A British businessman was left ‘fighting for his life’ after a flesh-eating disease started to attack his body.
Colin Graw visited Costa Rica following an investment opportunity, and was due to come back in January to start a new job.
But he was struck down with a bacterial infection and sent to hospital for minor surgery.
Intense pain followed and, four days later, Colin was told his infection mutated into something far worse.
The 47-year-old was diagnosed with Fournier’s Gangrene – a rare life-threatening flesh-eating disease – which can affect the scrotum and penis.
Doctors were forced to remove large areas of infected skin from his genital area.
Colin’s sister, Tanja, has launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for his treatment.
Medical costs have already spiralled to around £80,000 – and his family fear that figure could rise to as much as £150,000.
Tanja told Lancs Live: ’It’s been absolutely horrific for him, he is in exceptional amounts of pain, he can’t sit properly- he only had a 30% chance of survival because it’s such a rare bacterial infection and there aren’t many antibiotics that can treat these types of infections.
‘He is in Costa Rica, he’s in the public hospital there, he’s got no family, he’s got his girlfriend but he was weeks in hospital where very few people spoke English, absolutely no visitors allowed, no family around dealing with what was a near death experience fighting for his life for week- it’s just been awful.’
Tanja, who lives in Lancashire, was able to fly to Costa Rica in January but only had brief time at her brother’s side.
She’s been keeping in touch with the hospital but language barriers and timezones have made it a laborious affair.
Medical staff have found antibiotics that are helping Colin fight off the disease, but multiple open wounds means he is still at risk of further illness.
Tanja added: ‘I just feel so helpless – the language from receiving information and really understanding what’s going, sometimes things get lost in translation.
‘I think he was exceptionally unlucky to contract bacteria like that. He was on the beach one day, and three days later he was in hospital fighting for his life, it happened so quickly.
‘It was just supposed to be a day procedure – he just got an infection and it literally escalated from something minor to him being lying on his death bed.’
