Man With Strep Throat Sent Home With Pain Meds, Following Day He's On Life Support

Nov 15, 2019 by apost team

Kevin Breen, a father of three in Michigan, took a rare day off work because of flu-like symptoms. He went to the hospital to find out what was wrong, but the tests were negative for flu and strep, so the doctors sent him home with pain medication.

According to Today, Kevin's condition continued to worsen, so he went to the emergency room the next morning in great pain. The doctor figured out the diagnosis as a rare form of strep throat as his body went into septic shock. Keven had to be placed on life support, and the doctors were forced to amputate parts of his limbs.

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Kevin nearly died due to the response of his immune system fighting off the bacteria. The doctors performed a second test for strep throat, and it turned up positive this time. The infection had spread from his throat to his abdomen. His wife Julie spoke with Today news reporters about how terrifying the ordeal was.

“I remember telling him like, 'Kevin, you, you can cry,’” she said. 

As the disease progressed, Kevin's hands and feet turned black. The doctors had given him a treatment to direct his blood flow away from his extremities to his other organs in order to help him survive, but his hands and feet suffered a lot of damage in the process. The doctors had to amputate his left hand, part of his right hand, and both of his lower legs.

Kevin was in for a long journey of learning to live with this debilitating condition. He reported that he was like a baby at first, and his wife had to do everything for him. He felt motivated to learn to be self-reliant so that he could be less burdensome on Julie.

Kevin is only the second man in the world who has ever been diagnosed with this rare disease according to Today. Presently, Kevin is still leading an active life and doing things that he didn't think he would ever do again. He has had a difficult recovery, but Kevin credits his wife with helping him along the way. Today, Kevin is able to walk with the aid of prosthetic legs, and he also has a robotic hand that enables him to perform many normal tasks for himself.

He thought he would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, but he is living an active life that includes skiing and wakeboarding. He no longer needs much help from his wife, and he can help raise his three kids.

Do you think you could have made it through an ordeal like Kevin's? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and pass this article to your friends and family so that they can gain inspiration from Kevin's bravery.