Vancouver firefighter in rehab at home after losing leg to flesh-eating infection overseas
A family trip took a frightening turn for Christopher Won when he was diagnosed with flesh-eating disease while in Hong Kong and now, after weeks of treatment overseas, the Vancouver firefighter is back home recovering.
Won told CTV Morning Live Friday that it's a relief to be back in the Lower Mainland, surrounded by friends and family.
"I'm feeling, physically, much better than I did when I was in hospital, but there's still a lot of work to be done in terms of my recovery," he said.
Won began feeling symptoms on the way to the Singapore airport as his family was flying back to Hong Kong. Won said his foot felt a little sore when he put weight on it that morning.
"I didn't think much of it. We had done a lot of walking on our holiday," he said, adding the pain got increasingly worse, to the point where he couldn't put any weight on his foot. "At that point I realized there was something far more serious than I could handle on my own."
Won was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, a rare bacterial infection commonly known as flesh-eating disease, which forced the amputation of his leg above the knee on Feb. 15.
Won's partner, Marie Hui, said she'd never heard of the disease before.
"I had to actually look it up. So of course after I looked it up, it was quite a serious and critical illness and we didn't know if we were going to lose his leg, or lose his life," she told CTV Morning Live. "So it was really scary for not just us, but of course we've got two young kids and our whole family and our community back home were really scared."
Won said his community at home, including the fire department, has really come together to support his family.
"We always come together under conditions of adversity, we face adversity together," Won said of his colleagues. "When I was in hospital there was a constant wave of text messages and emails and people leaving messages."
Won said while he was in Hong Kong, a local firefighter who grew up in Vancouver took time during his days off to visit the couple in hospital.
Looking ahead, Won's recovery will continue with rehab and, eventually, a prosthesis.
"We'll try as hard as possible to rehab with the prosthesis and get him back doing everything that he loves to do, motorcycling, cycling, snowboarding, resuming jiu-jitsu, you know all the things we used to do and even just running around the park with our children, we can't wait for that," Hui said.
But Won stressed there's much more to his recovery beyond physical rehabilitation.
"I don't think I've mentally or emotionally really processed this entire experience, even though it's been over two months since the surgery. All of my doctors, all of the people I've talked to in terms of mental health support say it's very, very early in the process and so there's a lot to do there," he said.
"My intention is to hopefully get to the point where I'm able to go back to work full time and … just be active and healthy with our family and do the things we always did before."
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Keri Adams
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
'A tiny city:' Pro-Palestinian campus protesters organize for another week
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents at universities in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, following a wave of similar protests at campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools
Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don't see — on their feeds?
A Holocaust survivor will mark that history differently after the horrors of Oct. 7
This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, carries a heavier weight than usual for many Jews around the world.
Princess Anne lays wreath at Battle of Atlantic ceremony; honours late Queen
Princess Anne saluted Canadian veterans and current forces members and honoured her late mother during separate ceremonies Sunday in Victoria as she wrapped up a three-day British Columbia West Coast royal visit.
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.