STARKE, Fla. -- A medical mystery turns a Starke man's world upside down.
Once active, 38-year-old Alex Davies, is now confined to a wheel chair, missing three limbs.
One day in late March, the grocery store manager started to feel sick.
"Figuring it was just the flu, I let it go," Davies said.
He went home and collapsed.
"After that I don't remember anything."
He was rushed to Shands at the University of Florida.
"They told us do you want us to call a pastor," his mother, Jo Ann, said through tears. "He has 25 minutes to live."
"[He] died three times in four hours," added Bob, his father.
Davies was treated for a sepsis infection and septic shock, a potentially fatal drop in blood pressure, according to the Mayo Clinic.
His family said the same medications that regulated his blood pressure and saved his life, also damaged ciruclation to his hands and feet.
Three weeks later, doctors amputated Davies' left arm above the wrist and both legs below the knee.
"It's a weird feeling because when you wake up, they feel like they're still there," Davies explained. "So your mind is telling you they're still there but you're looking and, well, they're not."
Doctors believe the infection came from two abscessed teeth. The teeth were removed, but Davies said he had no warning.
"There was no pain, no nothing. I had no idea what it was," Alex said.
As the medical bills from his 56 day hospital stay pile up, the family has pulled together. He's staying with a cousin, and his parents have come out of retirement, both picking up two part time jobs at a bread company to help their son.
Davies is slowly gaining back the use of the fingers on his right hand. But as Davies stuggles to recover, he's warning others about sepsis and how serious tooth problems can be.
First Coast News