Man Who Suffered Bicep Injury Loses Arm, Ends Up Comatose Due To Infection

An aspiring bodybuilder ended up losing one of his arms after going through a harrowing life-threatening injury that saw him being in a coma for about 10 days.

Gabe Lieschke was working out in a gym but suffered a common injury that left him with a torn bicep after he overexerted himself during a workout.

Like most, he was supposed to take some time off to recover. Unfortunately, he caught an unusual infection that resulted in him losing one of his arms.

Lieschke share that life-changing incident on the “Young Blood- Men’s Mental Health” podcast where he also said that he came close to losing his life.

“I tore my bicep in the gym, and had some surgery a couple of days later,” he remembered. “Two weeks after that I had a postoperative infection called necrotizing fasciitis, which gave me 11 major surgeries during a 10 day coma.”

For those who may be coming across necrotizing fasciitis, the NHS website describes it as a rare and life-threatening infection that can occur if a wound becomes infected.

Immediate treatment for it at a hospital is recommended and LIeschke explained how delays almost led to him losing his life.

“Basically it was touch and go, it was like three days after the surgery, a locum came out and said, ’right off to hospital’, rushed me in and I don’t recall those three days at all, the infection took over and ruined my memory,” he explained.

“My dad was calling my friends up saying, ‘it looks like Gabe’s going to die’, it was hot water for quite a while,” he added.

Lieschke also explained how bodybuilding played a huge role in his life, particularly his mental health.

“There was no interest in my life except that, and it was really like a driving force in my life,” he said.

Since then, Lieschke has altered his course and diverted his focus to cycling. Now, he is hoping to become the best para-cyclist in the world.