'I'm very lucky to be alive'

While suffering from a toothache back in April 2022, Shane Carmichael could never have imagined that within days he would be fighting for his life.

During a visit to the out-of-hours dentist, the Bellaghy man was told that he had an abscess and that he would need to have a tooth pulled out.

During the procedure, Shane's tooth cracked in half but he was eventually sent home with antibiotics.

However, within days his neck and mouth began to swell up and he was forced to attend the accident and emergency department at Causeway Hospital in Coleraine.

What Shane didn't know at the time was that a rare flesh eating disease, called necrotizing fasciitis, was rapidly spreading through his body.

“It started off with a toothache and although it wasn't that sore at the time I thought I would get it sorted before it got any worse,” said Shane.

“I went to the out-of-hours dentist and he pulled the tooth and gave me antibiotics. My neck and my mouth started to swell a couple of days later and I knew something wasn't right.

“Paramedics were on strike at that time and I couldn't get an ambulance for love nor money so I ended up getting a taxi down to the hospital in Coleraine. I don't remember anything from after I walked into triage to when I woke up four months later.”

Shane, who had worked in fabrication and welding engineering, said prior to his illness he was '100% fit' and 'wouldn't even take a headache tablet before that'.

After spending a night in Coleraine, Shane was transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where he was placed in a medically induced coma for four months.

While battling necrotizing fasciitis, a rare bacterial infection that spreads quickly in the body and can cause death, Shane was also struck down by sepsis.

A retained firefighter for 14 years, Shane was later transerred to the ICU in Dundonald Hospital where he underwent 12 different operations.

“I am lucky it (the infection) didn't go upwards into my brain instead of downwards,” he continued. “All the bad tissue had to be cut away. I was cut from ear to ear, my whole neck was cut away and I needed to get plastic surgery. A big lump was cut out of my right breast to go into my neck and my right leg also has scars from the skin graft.”

Shane says the infection has severely affected the left hand side of his body and he has suffered from nerve damage and involuntary movements. He also has drop foot and needs to wear a splint on his left leg.

Further complications led to Shane suffering from heart problems and he had to have a pacemaker fitted, making him the first person in the North of Ireland to have this particular type of device fitted.

“I was told at one stage all the best surgeons in Ireland were at me,” said the 46 year-old, who previously lived in Kilrea.

“The plastic surgeon in the ICU in Dundonald was told by his colleagues that I was 'a goner' but thank God he persevered.

“I had approximately 12 surgeries and I had multiple organ failure so I had to go on dialysis and life support. I also had to have a tracheostomy to help me breathe.

“According to my sister, Kelly (O'Neill), who was at my bedside constantly and actually refused to sign DNR (do not resuscitate) forms, I was given the Last Rites eight times. I had an end of life week but every time my sister came up I pulled through even though the doctors said I wasn't going to make it through the night. I think maybe the fact that I was fairly fit really helped me.”

Shane, who has to be tube fed and can only eat puréed foods and liquids as he is at risk of choking, says his life has changed dramatically in the last 12 months.

“I haven't had a meal in well over a year. I can't take anything with any lumps in it at all because I am a choking risk,” he said.

“When I came out of the coma I had to learn to do everything again. I couldn't walk, I couldn't lift my arms, I couldn't even write my name. I needed a hoist to lift me out of bed and the physios had to work with me to try and get a bit of movement but it was pure torture, I couldn't see an end to it, to be honest. Before this all happened me I would have been walking four or five miles every day, maybe twice a day. Now I can't walk the length of myself. I've got a rollator to get about the house, I have to wear a bigger shoe on my left foot because of the splint and I use a stick if I am going anywhere. I can't go very far because it wrecks me, I'm left totally beat and out of breath. My whole quality of life has changed.

“My brother passed away a few years ago and I moved in with my mother in Portglenone to give her a hand but now the tables have sort of turned.”

While no timescale been put on Shane's recovery, he remains positive and hopeful that things will steadily improve.

He also credits the NHS with saving his life.

“The way the NHS is, unfortunately things are very slow, but I will say that I could not have received better treatment anywhere else in the world,” he continued.

“Everyone I was treated by were absolute legends. My treatment was life-saving and if it wasn't for the doctors and nurses I wouldn't be here today. One of the nurses even got in touch with Manchester United and when I was in hospital I received a get well letter from them.

“If you look up the survival rate of necrotizing fasciitis, one in three doesn't survive it so I'm very lucky to be alive. My sister was actually told to make the arrangements for my funeral and she had contacted the undertaker and all.”

For now, there is something that many people take for granted that Shane hopes to be able to do again.

“The one thing I would love to be fit to do again – it's the simplest thing which I cannot do at the minute - and that's to go out for a nice walk down around Fisherman's Walk in Portglenone,” he added.