Max Armstrong, 40, was camping with his friends to Kiowa, Colorado, US, in December 2024, when he burned his thumb on a skillet while cooking pasta for their dinner
He didn’t think anything of it, but as the days went on his left leg started to swell up, his toenails began turning purple and he was in pain.
After six days, Max was driven to AdventHealth Parker, Parker, Colorado, and once he got into the emergency room, his eyes started rolling back in his head.
Doctors quickly confirmed that strep A bacteria had gotten into his burn and that quickly developed into sepsis – which can be life-threatening if not treated properly.
Max was placed into an induced coma for six days and during that time was transported to AdventHealth Porter, Denver, Colorado – as they had better facilities.
When he woke from the coma on December 13, Max says his feet were both completely black and doctors recommended amputation – telling him they would be impossible to save.
On December 23, 2024, Max had a three-hour operation to amputate both of his legs.
After more than a month recovering in hospital, he was able to go home to his wife, Megan Armstrong, 42, and learn how to live life in a wheelchair.
Max, a business owner, from Franktown, Colorado, said: “It was a hunting trip with friends that turned into a bit of a nightmare.
“I grabbed a skillet wrong and my thumb touched the hot part, I could feel it burning as I moved it to the table but I didn’t want to drop it.
“I didn’t think much of it as I have gotten burns, scrapes and cuts from living in the outdoors and being outdoors my whole life.
“After dinner, I cleaned up the burn, put a bandage on it and left it.
“Sadly, dinner was enough for the burn to get strep A.”
Max and his friends were on a week camping trip when he touched a hot skillet and burnt his thumb.
He cleaned the burn, wrapped it up and didn’t think anything of it until his left leg started to swell up two days later.
Max said: “Two days after I got the burn one of my legs started to swell up.
“I attributed it to hurting my ankle at some point without realising.
“There was no significant pain at this point but that was only two days later.
“On December 7 I decided to head home and my buddy, suggested we go to the hospital.
“At that point, my toenails started turning purple and the swelling had increased.”
Once Max arrived at AdventHealth Parker, Parker, Colorado, he went straight to the emergency room where doctors concluded he had sepsis and would need to be put in an induced coma for his body to recover.
He said: “At this point, the burn on my thumb had become pretty ugly, it had turned black and looked like it was eating away at my thumb.
“The doctors were asking me lots of questions, but my eyes started rolling back in my head and I started talking nonsense.
“They concluded that I had sepsis and put me into a medically induced coma.”
Max was then transported to AdventHealth Porter, Denver, Colorado where he stayed in a coma for six days.
Doctors told his family there was a chance he might not make it, but on December 13, Max woke from his coma.
He said: “My family was there, my mother, my wife – everyone was very happy to see me.
“The doctors told them that I might not make it, there was a lot of concern that I would never wake up.
“My family was extremely happy, I could hear them cheering and then the nurses came in and started cleaning me up.”
While he was in the coma, Max said the sepsis had completely eaten away at his feet and had started spreading to his legs.
Doctors said the only option was to amputate his legs and on December 23, 2024, Max went in for a three-hour operation.
Max said: “Initially when I woke up, I thought my legs were still there and then I came to realise that they weren’t.
“I felt down my leg and realised that my legs weren’t there, I asked the nurse and she confirmed that I had my legs amputated.
“She told me that my family was waiting for me and kept on reminding me of them which anchored me.”
On January 14, 2025, Max left the hospital and went to the Sky Ridge Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, Lone Tree, Colorado, where he spent 16 days before being released on January 29, 2025.
Max will now rely on a wheelchair for the rest of his life and has been learning triceps and shoulder exercises to help him with mobility.
Max said: “They give you physical rehabilitation three times a day every day.
“There is a lot of triceps work and shoulder exercises.
“Now I am in a wheelchair my shoulder and triceps are my lifeline.”
