Brett Dymond: Dad-of-two who thought he had simple cold dies of sepsis from rare flesh-eating infection
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: When Brett Dymond, a father of two in the UK, observed a small spot on his leg that was beginning to swell, he initially believed he was developing a cold. The 38-year-old showed up for work as normal but had to leave early.
When Dymond's condition started to swiftly worsen, causing him to experience hallucinations and find it difficult to function at work, his family quickly realized it was something much more serious. He was diagnosed with sepsis from necrotizing fasciitis, a rare infection that can develop if a wound becomes infected, and hemolytic strep A after his wife Charlene contacted emergency services for assistance.
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'This was the devastating news that we all feared'
“He then had three cardiac arrests just because he had been touched/moved by the hospital staff,” his cousin Kelly Sims wrote in a GoFundMe, adding Dymond was “so fragile”. Dymond's condition deteriorated further, resulting in multi-organ failure and he was placed in an induced coma while he was in a critical state. “One doctor said that he was the sickest patient they’d seen in ICU in the last five years,” Sims said.
When Dymond began to get better over the following few days and on March 18 was downgraded to a critical but stable state, his family experienced "slight relief." But the situation rapidly worsened, and the following morning—Mother's Day in the UK—Dymond was declared brain dead.
“They had two options,” Sims told The Independent. “They could amputate all his fingers and legs that had gone black (from sepsis) and he’d be brain dead or they could turn off the machine. So, they turned the machine off.”
Sims said Dymond's family was devastated by the news because they didn't know how he originally contracted the illness. “This was the devastating news that we all feared, that it was the end of the road for Brett, a selfless young man with a pure heart, and a wife and children who needed him,” she wrote on the fundraiser. “We lost our son, father, husband, brother, uncle, cousin and friend on Mother’s Day!”
In online obituaries, loved ones described the father as an "all-round tower of strength and the beacon of light." His family started the fundraiser to assist his young children and pay for the funeral.
Even minor wounds can allow the bacteria to penetrate the skin
The rare and severe flesh-eating disease can spread quickly within the body, causing sepsis, shock, organ failure, and death. Experts concur that group A streptococcus is the most typical cause of necrotizing fasciitis. Cuts, grazes, burns, insect bites, puncture wounds, and even minor wounds like a prick from gardening can allow the bacteria to penetrate the skin. The lower leg is the most typical site of infection, and symptoms typically start to show up 24 hours after a small injury.