The life story of Alex Lewis is like no other. This man refused to give up on his life no matter what it took, and today, he’s thriving with the help of his loving wife Lucy Townsend, and their son.
Alex and Lucy always knew they were meant for each other. When they married and welcomed their son Sam into their life, they felt like the happiest couple on Earth. But then in 2013, around the time Sam turned two, this family’s life took a different turn.
Both Alex and Sam caught the flu, or at least they believed so. However, as the boy got better in a short period of time, Alex wasn’t feeling fine even days after he experienced the flu-like symptoms.
“Because we owned and lived in a pub and came into contact with lots of different people, I assumed it was a seasonal cold and thought it started off as man flu,” Alex told Metro.
Instead of improving, his condition worsened and he became feverish and noticed blood in his urine.
As he could feel something was very wrong, he went to the hospital where doctors told him he contracted a streptococcal infection (type A). Unfortunately, at that point, the infection penetrated deep into the tissue and the organs and caused sepsis. Alex had contracted shock syndrome, septicemia, and necrotizing fascitis – and his body was attacking itself from the inside out.
“I called an ambulance, and within eight minutes, they were there. At the hospital, we went straight into resuscitation, and I was told to say goodbye. His kidneys were shutting down, and they were going to put him on life support,” his wife Lucy told The Guardian.
Doctors’ prognoses were dull. They told the family there was just a three percent chance that Alex would survive as his face and body turned black.
“They were going to turn my life support off, but they wanted to give me one more night to see if I improved, and they wanted to give my family a chance to say goodbye,” Alex told Metro.
“I cannot imagine what Lucy and my mum were going through.
“Having spoken to them since it happened, I think they were more in shock as they couldn’t believe something so incredibly invasive was happening so quickly,” he added.
“I don’t remember being in excruciating pain at this point, but my family remembers seeing me in absolute agony.”
It was determined that a flesh-eating bacteria was poisoning his body so doctors had to amputate his left arm up to the elbow. Sadly, as months passed by, Alex lost all of his limbs, and doctors were also forced to cut parts of his face in order to save his life.
“I can remember seeing my legs in hospital and how they were getting blacker and blacker,” Alex told The Guardian. “The blackness was creeping up towards my waist. I don’t remember seeing my left arm in that condition, but I can remember my legs vividly.”
As Alex lost his lips, plastic surgeon Alexandra Crick took skin from his shoulder in an attempt to fix his mouth.
“It would take me about an hour to eat a sandwich at night, and that was with the help of the nurse,” he told the Daily Mail.
“The last available skin for surgery was on my shoulder,” he explained. “So they replaced the temporary flap with that. All my other skin had to be used for grafts or was scarred.”
“Having my bottom and top lip done at the same time like this was a world first. It’s one piece of skin, and it was like if you imagine placing a bag in your mouth and then sewing around the edges. After the original operation, I had to have them every three or four months.”
Looking at his father, and how different he was, Sam was afraid to approach closer to him, but Lucy found a way to explain to him why his dad looked like that, which wasn’t easy as Sam was just two years old at the time.
After spending months at the hospital Alex could finally go home. The good thing was that doctors managed to save the elbow of his right arm which allowed him to have a prosthetic and be able to use his arm. Eventually, he could speak again as his lip surgery was a huge success.
“That one elbow is his whole independence,” Lucy said.
“I had to relearn everything,” Alex added. “From learning to eat, drink, put my clothes on, to learn to use a prosthesis, and to self propel a manual wheelchair.”
Today, Alex is involved in a number of tech projects which help ease the lives of disabled people. Among the rest, he has tested solar-powered, battery-assisted four-wheeled handles which have been designed by masters students at Southampton University.
Despite his condition, he’s living a quality life and is doing a lot of things, such as kayaking and climbing. In 2019, he climbed one of Africa’s tallest mountains using a specially adapted buggy.
“Since becoming an amputee, I’ve been fortunate enough to try out a number of training methods to keep my fitness up, working with physios and visiting the Help for Heroes training facilities,” he shared with Sports Management.
“I’ve had first-rate guidance, but nothing has been as effective as EMS training, especially in such a short space of time.
“It’s amazing how the machine helps me to engage muscles I haven’t felt since I lost my arms and legs,” he added.
“I feel stronger in training, daily life tasks are easier, and I’ve gained greater confidence that I can take on these challenges.”
His Wild Wheelchairs Project, besides helping improve the lives of disabled people, raises money to finance the construction and operation of a wheelchair manufacturing facility in Ethiopia.
Alex is also a motivational speaker who is happy with his life.
“I’ve lived more of a life in the past four years than I did in the previous 33, and it’s made me realize how much I love Lucy and Sam,” he told Metro.
“There was so much I regretted not doing when I had arms and legs, but I am not letting that happen again. I would not change anything, not in a heartbeat.”
Sam also learned to love his dad for who he is and is proud of him.
We truly admire this brave man’s resilience. His story is proof that no matter the curveballs life throws at us, we should always do our best to end up winners.
These 5 Jokes Are the Ultimate Mood Boosters—You’ll Thank Us Later
Life can be really busy, and we often feel stressed about deadlines. But laughter is a wonderful way to lift our spirits. So, take a break, relax, and enjoy these jokes.
In today’s fast-moving world, it’s easy to get lost in the chaos. However, just taking a moment to laugh can really improve your mood and well-being. That’s why we’ve put together this list of funny jokes that are sure to make you smile and boost your spirits.
1) The Cowboy Knew What He Was Doing
One night, an old, blind cowboy accidentally walked into an all-girls biker bar. He found a bar stool and ordered a cup of coffee.
After sitting there for a while, he called out, “Hey, you wanna hear a blonde joke?”
The bar went completely silent.
Then, a woman next to him said in a deep voice, “Before you tell that joke, cowboy, I think you should know five things:
The bartender is a blonde woman with a baseball bat.
The bouncer is a blonde woman.
I’m a 6-foot-tall, 175-pound blonde woman with a black belt in karate.
The woman beside me is a blonde professional weightlifter.
The lady to your right is a blonde professional wrestler.”
After a moment, she asked, “Now, do you still want to tell that joke?”
The cowboy thought for a second, shook his head, and said, “Nope… not if I have to explain it five times.”
—
2) Too Good to Be True
One day, Arnold was scrolling through Facebook and saw an ad for a black SUV. The price looked too good to be true.
“Mom!” he shouted. “Can I buy a car? I’m old enough to drive now and saw this awesome ad. Someone’s selling an SUV for just $25!”
“Oh, Arnold,” his mother sighed. “It must be a mistake. Who would sell a car for that little?”
“Can we go see it, Mom? Please?” he begged. “It’s just a few blocks away.”
“Alright,” she agreed.
The next day, Arnold and his mom went to the address. There it was—a brand new black SUV in perfect condition, with only a few hundred miles on it.
A woman came out of her house and asked, “So, you’re interested in buying the car?”
“Yes!” Arnold replied. “It’s so nice! How much is it? The ad said $25 but…”
“The price is still $25,” she said. “I can lower it if you think it’s too high.”
Arnold quickly paid and signed the papers. But his mom wanted to ask one last question.
“Why are you selling such a nice SUV for so little?” she inquired.
“Well,” the woman said, “my husband left me and ran away with his secretary. He called from Hawaii and said, ‘Sell my car and send me the money.’ So, that’s what I’m doing.”
—
3) The Lazy Employee
A company hired a new CEO named Richard, hoping he would improve things.
On his first day, Richard wanted to find and get rid of all the lazy workers. He left his office to walk around and saw a young man leaning against a wall.
Richard thought this was his chance to show everyone he wouldn’t tolerate laziness. He walked up to the guy and asked, “How much do you make in a week?”
“$200, sir,” the young man answered. “Why?”
Everyone in the office was now watching Richard. He pulled out his wallet and handed the guy $200.
“Here’s a week’s pay. Now get out! This place isn’t for lazy people!”
Richard felt good about firing someone. When the guy left, he turned to the others and asked, “Can anyone tell me what the slacker did here?”
Then a senior employee said, “Sir, that was the pizza delivery guy.”
—
4) The Big News
One day, Peter’s parents told him they wanted to discuss something very important.
“What happened, Dad?” he asked.
“Son, we need to tell you that you’re adopted,” his father replied.
“What?” Peter was shocked.
“We wanted to wait for the right time to tell you,” his mother explained.
“I knew it! I always felt different! I want to meet my real parents!” Peter said.
“We are your real parents,” his father said. “Now pack up; your new ones are coming to get you in 20 minutes.”
—
5) The Unusual Interview
A young woman was interviewing for an entry-level job. After a few minutes, the interviewers realized she wasn’t very smart.
They didn’t want to cut the interview short, so they asked her simple questions to fill the time.
“How old are you?” one interviewer asked.
The woman started counting on her fingers.
“27 years, sir,” she said after a minute.
The interviewers exchanged glances before the second one asked, “How tall are you?”
The woman took out a measuring tape from her bag, stood up, and measured herself.
“Five feet, three inches,” she replied.
Then the first interviewer asked, “Okay, can you just tell us your name?”
To their surprise, the woman chanted something quietly and then said, “Neha!”
One of the interviewers, unable to hold back, asked, “What took you so long to say your name?”
“I was just recalling that song,” she replied. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Neha…”
So, which joke did you like best? Don’t forget to share these jokes with your loved ones. You might brighten their day!
Feeling down or just need a boost? You’re in luck! We’ve gathered seven of the funniest jokes to make you smile and lift your spirits. From forgetful seniors to clever kids, these stories are sure to make you chuckle.
So grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy some fun humor!
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