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FIGHTER: Mark Nagel lost his leg after catching a flesh-eating insect from an "ingrown hair"
Mark Nagel, 53, saw his balloon deflate by 45 pounds and remained temporarily blind in the fortnight after contracting a rare bacterial infection in his left thigh.
Necrotic fatal fasciitis is thought to have entered his system through an ingrown hair.
He quickly multiplied into an "empty space" caused by Mark's fall and the pull of a muscle.
Mark, a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, United States, first suffered from a dull ache that escalated as the virus fed in his flesh.
"I can only deal with one leg because it's way better than the alternative – I'm alive."
Mark Nagel
His terrified wife, 52-year-old Tammy, called the cops and was taken to the hospital, where doctors warned that his life was in danger.
Mark went under the knife six times to remove the sick flesh.
He miraculously survived the horror disease, which just has a survival rate of 27%.
But surgeons have no choice but to amputate the left leg of the pelvis to prevent the spread of the disease.
Mark, a project developer, was forced to spend a year re-learning to walk with a prosthetic limb after catching the virus.
He described the ordeal as "scary" – but said that he was grateful to be alive.
MARK NAGEL / SWNS
POSITIVE: Mark still smiles despite his ordeal
MARK NAGEL / SWNS
RECOVERY: Mark had to spend a year learning to walk again
"I had never heard of the virus before," Mark said.
"When I googled it online, I remember thinking that the death rate of those affected – and the fact that it's called a flesh-eating disease – was scary.
"There was an ingrown hair on my thigh and the speculation was that something went by – a strep infection went through these ingrown hairs.
"Normally, it would not matter because your immune system is fighting him, but he found an opening in that space where there was a pulled muscle and it gave him room to grow."
Mark began to feel pain early last year after slipping on the ice riding his Golden Retriever, Dakota, and pulling his strength.
He said, "My leg started to swell, and it was hard to walk on it as it started to stiffen.
"Over a period of two weeks, I had taken 45 pounds in my leg.
"The infection had basically absorbed all the hydration in my body, so I became so dehydrated that I became blind and fainted."
MARK NAGEL / SWNS
FAMILY MAN: Daddy of two has the support of his friends and family
Brave Mark, 21-year-old father of Rachel, and Mitch, 23, remained positive despite the emotional trauma.
"You just have to overcome that kind of thing, you can not let it get you down," he said.
"I can just have one leg because it's much better than the alternative – I'm alive."
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