Letter for AWA paddlers

I have run a rafting company on the Kananaskis River for the past 20 years. In August 2015 I cut my foot on the river... I got two super bugs in the cut that were resistant to antibiotics. The infections led to blood poisoning and septic shock and I was hospitalized for 2 months. The infection then got into my bones and organs. With daily treatment and 5 operations over the next 18 months it was decided to amputate my leg below the knee as my bones were completely distorted, I now have a prosthetic leg and am learning to walk again

Lessons to be learnt: 

  1. don't walk around the river barefoot 
  2. treat every simple cut with care and keep it water proof as you don't know what is in the water and 
  3. don't use antibiotics for colds and simple ailments as you lose resistance for the big bugs

See you on the river this year

Best wishes,  Andrew Pratt, Inside Out Adventures

 

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