WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES: Jacob Butler had inches of skin and muscle removed from his leg after contracting necrotising fasciitis following an accident at a lake in Cheshire
A boy who tried to cool off during the heatwave by jumping into a lake had several inches of his leg eaten away after he contracted a horror bug through a cut in his leg.
Jacob Butler, 14, went for a cold swim in a lake in Colliers Moss Park, near Burtonwood in Cheshire, last week when temperatures reached intolerable highs. But what was supposed to be a refreshing dip in the water turned into a nightmare when he caught his leg on a piece of wire and opened up a gruesome gash on his right leg.
As if the gaping wound wasn’t enough, it served as an entry point for deadly bacteria, which has left him in hospital with a flesh-eating infection.
When Jacob sustained the horror injury on April 30, he was without his parents, and urgently called his dad Ashley, 37, to explain he had an “accident” that was “really bad”. Without help in the interim, a nearby fisherman stepped up for the teen and tied a t-shirt around his leg to stem the bloodflow.
Jacob’s mum said the hero fisherman had likely saved her son’s leg, buying valuable time until paramedics were able to make it to the scene and airlift him to Alder Hey Children’s hospital.
His leg was placed in more jeopardy the following morning when signs of infection started to show, which medics believed they were able to excise with emergency surgery. Believing the wound was resolved, the teen returned home, only for those signs of infection to reappear weeks later on May 13.
Mum Rebecca Butler said she took her son back to A&E on May 13 after she noticed signs of infection, with Jacob’s leg smelling like “rotting flesh”.
She added: “It smelt like death, it was horrific. I was concerned and took him to the hospital, and doctors told me his leg was infected with a flesh-eating disease. It was terrifying, as they told me if I hadn’t come in when I did it could have been life-threatening. But the doctors did a great job looking after him.”
Jacob went under the knife a second time to remove all remaining signs of infection, with doctors making the grim discovery that the bug had eaten “around 15cm” of his flesh.
When doctors “scooped the infection out”, Rebecca said, it “was just his bare bone underneath, with no tissue left at all”. The ordeal was “devastating”, she added, and left her fearing her son would die. Jacob has been left with a six-inch chunk of flesh missing from his leg, with doctors forced to excise some muscle to prevent the bacteria from spreading.
He has been left with a wide and deep wound just below his knee, with large black stitches seen covering visible bone where there was once smooth skin.
Ultimately, Rebecca said her son was lucky to be alive after contracting such a severe infection, but the thought of what could have happened if she hadn’t taken him for urgent treatment keeps her awake at night. She said: “The whole ordeal has been devastating for me as a mum.”
“I honestly thought he was going to die, and to be told he could have if I hadn’t brought him to the hospital keeps me up at night. At one point there were what looked like 30 doctors and surgeons in the room all discussing his leg.”
Rebecca is now resolute to ensure other families don’t go through the same experience as Jacob, who, despite having a “long road to recovery” has been a “real trooper”. She said: “Jacob has a long road to recovery, but he will get there as he is improving daily, and we are so proud of him.”
She has since set up an Instagram page – JacobsWaterWarning – where she is spreading awareness of his story. She said: “Luckily, we still have our son, but unfortunately, there are others who will never see their children again.”
“Water safety is real and no joke. Our hearts go out to all of the young children who have recently lost their lives in lake tragedies, and our deepest condolences go to all the families of the children.” Jacob has also urged children to not jump into open water during the summer.
He said: “The past weeks have been really hard. My leg didn’t feel right when it was infected. Please don’t jump into open water as it can be very dangerous, I could have lost my leg or worse.”
The Mirror has launched the Save Lives For Sam water safety campaign to tackle the UK’s growing drowning crisis. Backed by MPs, Olympic champions, national water safety organisations and bereaved families, the campaign is calling for urgent action to make our waters safer.
That includes compulsory water safety lessons in schools, a nationwide public awareness campaign, better lifesaving equipment at high-risk waterways, the introduction of Sam’s Law, and a dedicated Minister for Water Safety. Find out more about the campaign and how you can support it here.
