Woman's Fight Against Flesh-Eating Bug After Wine Glass Mishap

Glass Mishap Leads to Life-Threatening Infection

A gran admits she thought nothing of a tiny cut from a smashed wine glass… until she developed a 'flesh-eating bug' that 'ravaged' her foot. Susan Sztybel had opened her kitchen cupboard to grab two wine glasses for her and her partner David Farmer, 69, when one fell out and smashed on the floor.

Fighting for Survival

The 67-year-old told how a shard of glass caught her right foot leaving a small one-inch cut in her skin on March 28. The mum-of-three put plasters over the scratch, and went to bed, thinking nothing more of it. But 24 hours later, Susan says she began to feel feverish as her cut began to bleed and ooze pus so she went to Alexandra Hospital in Redditch to have it checked out. The carer was then transferred to a specialist team at Worcester Royal Hospital to be treated for sepsis, strep A, and cellulitis - which developed into a flesh-eating bacteria.

Miraculous Recovery

By this point, Susan claims the infection had crept up her right leg into her groin and was told by doctors her chance of survival was low. She then underwent debridement surgeries to scrape as much of the 'flesh-eating bug' out of her foot and was then put on a vac machine to suck the infection out of her skin. Due to the medication and the severity of her illness, the support worker claims she saw the 'pearly gates' in hospital and feared she would die. Thankfully, doctors were able to save her life and foot and after more than a month in hospital, she is recovering at her partner's house.

Raising Awareness

Susan is now keen to raise awareness about what happened to her to show how one small cut from a piece of glass almost cost her her life. Susan, from Stourport-on-Severn in Worcestershire, told how the accident happened on a Friday night as she and her partner were ready to relax at the start of the weekend. She said: 'I got home and I opened the cupboard and this glass fell out and smashed. I was just going to have a glass of wine with my partner to celebrate the weekend coming in.'

Long Road to Recovery

'It was a wine glass that smashed. My partner cleaned up the glass and I wiped my one-inch cut on my foot [from the glass] and put a plaster on it and thought no more of it. [On Saturday], I carried on with my shift at work as a living carer. I knew I had done something to my ankle at this point as it was a bit sore.'

'24 hours later I felt a little bit sick and hot and then within a couple of hours I was feeling sick and was sweating and felt really poorly. I didn't realise the seriousness at this point. I thought I just had a bug and I never imagined it was to do with my cut.'

'Someone took over my shift and at this point I was feeling very faint and my cut was oozing. It was oozing and there was lots of clear blood and puss. My foot felt like it was pulsating. Within 48 hours the infection had crept up my leg into my groin and this is when they said doctors would have to operate and they didn't know if I was going to survive.' 'All I kept saying was please save me. I didn't care if I lost my leg. They say you see the pearly gates. In the next few days, I saw those pearly gates. I was hallucinating.'

Medical Intervention and Recovery

'It was a flesh-eating bug which was ravaging through my skin and leg and I was fighting to keep alive. I had to lay down with my leg higher than my heart for 23 hours a day and was only allowed to sit up to eat.'

'After more than a month in hospital, Susan was transferred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where she underwent plastic surgery on her foot on May 5th. While she has been told her foot may never look the same again, doctors have said she will not suffer any long-term effects from the infection.'

Ongoing Awareness Campaign

Susan said: 'In the early days, I was told by a doctor that they couldn't believe I had survived so far as my infection marker was so high and I was very poorly. Your infection marker should be at five and mine was 500 and you shouldn't survive with this.'

'I kept praying and hoping a