A DUNDEE man has said he owes his life to the Ninewells Hospital experts who treated him for a rare flesh-eating virus which kills more than a third of infected people.

Father of two Paul Cumming (34) originally thought he had flu symptoms when he was feeling unwell at the end of April.

But when his condition continued to deteriorate over the course of a weekend he decided to go to Ninewells Hospital in the early hours of Monday morning.

Doctors originally suspected Paul had the skin condition cellulitis—but when his blood test came back the doctors realised his condition was much more serious.

He was diagnosed as having necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating bacteria that effects one in every 500,000 people.

Because the virus acts so quickly, he was rushed into surgery that afternoon, and surgeons spent five hours cutting out a 20cm squared area of flesh down the left side of his body.

But this wasn’t the end of his problems—in intensive care Paul had blood poisoning and kidney failure as his body tried to recover from the potentially fatal bacteria and his treatment.

After two weeks in intensive care, Paul was transferred to the burns unit for a skin graft over the area which was treated.

He is now recovering from his ordeal at his home in Broomlee Road, where he lives with his partner Nicola and their 15-month-old daughter Brook.

“It was the last day in April, a Saturday, when I felt I was coming down with the flu,” Paul recalled.

“I felt a pain in my side and at first I didn’t think that it was anything to be concerned about.

“But the pain got worse and worse throughout the weekend until, at 1.30 am on Monday morning, I decided that I’d have to go to hospital

“The doctors originally thought I had (the) skin condition cellulitis but when they had the result of my blood work, four guys dressed in green came and said I had to follow them.

“With necrotising fasciitis you have to act very quickly to give the patient a chance. The disease has a 30% to 80% mortality rate.

“I was taken to surgery that afternoon and after that I lost three weeks of my life. I was under heavy sedation and slipping in and out of consciousness.”

Paul’s partner Nicola said that during the three weeks of treatment there were times when she had “given up hope” that he would survive.

“I received a phone call from the doctors on Monday lunchtime telling me to get to the hospital as soon as possible,” she said.

“It was a real panic. There the doctors told me that Paul had to go into theatre.

“The doctors told me that he wasn’t out of the woods until he was able to sit up and talk to us, which didn’t happen until around two weeks after the surgery.

“During that time I had faced up to the fact that Paul wouldn’t make it. I had given up hope.

“When he was finally able to talk to me, the relief was overwhelming.

“Paul then spent a further week at the burns unit of Ninewells Hospital, where they put a skin graft over the infected area of his body.”

Now Paul, who has an eight-year-old son from a previous marriage, is making a good recovery and is already planning how to thank the staff at Ninewells who “saved his life.”

“I’m feeling well,” he said. “I’ve been recovering very quickly and the wound is getting there.

“I can’t thank enough the friends, family and in particular Nicola who are supporting me through this.

“I’m currently receiving physiotherapy for my left arm, because they had to move some of my muscles to protect them during surgery.

“Because the condition is so rare, I was lucky to be in such safe hands.

“The staff did everything for me.

“Now we are planning to hold a sponsored walk around Monikie Park next month with around 40 friends and family to raise money for the hospital.

“The day will have a patient, nurses and doctors theme. We hope to raise over £1000.

“I can’t thank the staff at Ninewells enough for saving my life.”