Man's hands and feet to be amputated after strep throat infection

A Michigan man will have to undergo a quadruple amputation after a rare case of strep throat almost took his life, according to WOOD-TV.

Kevin Breen, 44, reportedly began feeling ill on Christmas Day 2016.

Just a few days later, the father of two was rushed to the emergency room with unbearable stomach pains, where a CT scan showed his stomach was filled with hardening pus.

The infection eventually caused Breen to go into severe septic shock, so he was brought to the ICU where he was put on a ventilator and dialysis.

While doctors were racing to pinpoint the source of the raging infection, Breen's body began redirecting blood flow to his more vital organs in an attempt to save them, more or less leaving his hands and feet to die.

"He was one of the sickest patients I have ever taken care of," Dr. Elizabeth Steensma, an acute care surgeon at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital, told WOOD-TV.

Eventually, doctors were able to diagnose the root of Breen's troubles -- but only after learning that his son recently has strep throat.

After running a new round of tests, they found a common sign of strep in his stomach, which had apparently traveled there from his throat.

Dr. Steensma says she's only found 32 other documented cases of strep moving from the throat to the stomach, and that Breen is only the second documented man to experience a case of this severity.

Although doctors were able to successfully treat Breen after her was properly diagnosed, the infection had already taken its toll, leaving his hands and feet almost completely black and nearly unmovable.

According to a GoFundMe page set up to help pay for his hospital bills, Breen will need four surgeries: complete amputation of his left hand, amputation of multiple fingers on the right, and partial amputation of both his feet.