Strep Throat Amputation: Rare Case Leads to Man to Lose Hands, Feet

A Michigan man had to have his hands and feet amputated after a rare case of strep throat traveled to his belly and nearly killed him.

Kevin Breen started feeling sick at Christmas after his son had strep throat. His initial strep test came back negative, so he figured it was just a virus, WOOD TV reported. Days later, the 44-year-old Michigan husband and father started having pain in his stomach, which finally became so severe that he went to the emergency room.

Doctors suspected something was seriously wrong because his stomach was hard and distended. They operated and found his stomach was full of pus and that it was surrounding all of his organs as well. It was a life-threatening infection they soon figured out was caused by the strep bacteria, WOOD TV said.

There have been 32 cases of strep bacteria moving from the throat to the belly, and only two of those cases were in men. The extremely rare condition caused Breen's body to start shutting down, and the medications used to treat the infection caused blood to be diverted from his hands and feet to his vital organs, saving his life.

Although the infection receded, the flesh on Breen’s extremities slowly died because of the lack of blood flow. They turned black, and Breen would require both hands and parts of his feet to be amputated. The first operation was performed Wednesday, WOOD TV reported.

Breen and wife Julie, a teacher, have kept a positive attitude through this long ordeal.

“Life is forever going to different,” his wife said, WOOD TV reported. “But different doesn’t necessarily have to be bad ... we just have to figure it out.”

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