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Wednesday, August 27, 2008, 08:00
Allan, 54, a builder from Cheltenham, spent 12 days in a coma with multiple organ failure and had to learn to walk again.
He contracted the rare bacterial infection through open cuts during work to clear a drain.
Now he wants to thank hospital staff for saving him and to educate others of the illness and its symptoms.
Allan's illness took hold after he cut himself with a high-power jet while clearing the drain at his home in Evesham Road.
Three weeks later he was suffering from flu-like symptoms, chronic headaches and back pain.
When he turned yellow with jaundice his wife Tasha knew he needed urgent treatment and rushed him to Cheltenham General Hospital.
It was a decision which would prove to save his life.
Tasha said: "I got Allan to hospital and within hours he was on a life support machine. His kidneys, lungs and liver were failing and he was put on a respirator.
"He ballooned to twice his size and was bright yellow. The consultant told me it was touch and go whether he would survive the night.
"It was only Allan's determination that brought him through. He made it and the odds improved."
As Allan slowly improved he had more hurdles to overcome. He was suffering from hallucinations due to the drugs he was on and had to learn to walk again.
Allan says it was down to the care of staff, from porters and cleaners to nurses and doctors, that brought him through the illness.
He said: "I was suffering dreadful hallucinations, imagining I was being kidnapped and fighting in wars.
"I was truly scared, but the nurses were there to hold my hand and reassure me.
"I was also bed-bound and virtually paralysed from the neck down but they were always there for me."
Within a week, Allan was taken off the respirator. Shortly after, his kidneys began to work again and he was taken off dialysis.
He spent three weeks in intensive care at Cheltenham General before being transferred for treatment at Gloucestershire Royal.
He was watched over by Tasha.
Allan said: "It was like I had known the staff all my life and as long as I'm alive I will never forget the treatment."
"I'm still anaemic and will be off for a year but I'm so grateful and keen that the staff are recognised."
Sister Julie Harris who works in the Intensive Care Unit at Cheltenham General Hospital said: "We are so pleased that Alan was happy with his care and we are proud of his recovery."
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