A young father who lost all four of his limbs when a common cold turned into a flesh-eating bug has endured a 20-hour operation to rebuild his lips.Alex Lewis, 34, lost his arms, legs and parts of his face to a deadly virus but has now had his face transformed using flesh from his shoulder.
He underwent two days of gruelling surgery to open his mouth back up and give him back his lips.Mr Lewis spent six hours in the operating theatre at Salisbury District Hospital while surgeon Dr Alexandra Crick opened up his mouth and stitched in a temporary sponge foam. More photos below
Extra skin was finally stitched onto the left side of his mouth, which will be removed in two weeks if there are no problems with the healing process. The new skin around Mr Lewis’ lips will eventually turn the same colour as his face, the skin will shrink and there will be no scarring. Mr Lewis, who lives in Stockbridge, Hampshire, with wife Lucy and their three-year-old son Sam, said:
‘This feels like an incredible step forward to the end result.I feel now the worst is over and I can now look forward to the healing process of my face changing.
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