Fireman's 'cold' was actually deadly flesh-eating bacteria that attacked his BUTTOCKS leaving him disabled

Fireman's 'cold' was actually deadly flesh-eating bacteria that attacked his BUTTOCKS leaving him disabled READ MORE: Father of 3 died after flesh-eating bacteria infected tiny cut By EMMA NELSON FOR MAILONLINE Published: 10:46, 21 November 2024 | Updated: 10:46, 21 November 2024 e-mail View comments A former fireman was left fighting for his life after what he thought was a 'bad cold' turned out to be a flesh-eating bug that 'chewed' through his buttocks 'like a shark'. Simon English, 55, spent three months in intensive care where he 'came close to dying', and eventually had to undergo a procedure to install a stoma to allow his wound to heal. 'I look like a shark's taken a bite out of my a**e,' said Mr English, a retired fireman from Beverley, Yorkshire.

'I ended up looking like I was about 70 years old after lying in bed for weeks. 'My nurse told me if I'd left it any longer before going to hospital, I wouldn't be here now.' Mr English's ordeal began in late March, when he developed all the classic symptoms of a cold.

His wife, Kay, works in a school and is 'always picking up illnesses', so the couple assumed his illness was nothing out of the ordinary. But as the hours went by, his symptoms — a fever, cough and fatigue — got worse. Simon English spent three months in ICU while doctors treated him for a life-threatening infection that began in his buttock.

Necrotising fasciitis ia thought to affect between 500 and 1000 people every year in the UK, with around one in fi.