Caloundra’s Celeste Stirrup nearly loses leg to Cellulitis bacteria after swimming at Bulcock Beach

Doctors told a grandmother she’d need her leg amputated after a bacterial infection from the beach caused it to “look like a piece of beef hanging at the butchers”. Warning - graphic content.

Celeste Stirrup nearly lost her leg to Cellulitis bacteria after a swim in the ocean. Picture - contributed.

Through tears, an exasperated, nearly broken, Sunshine Coast grandmother cursed herself saying if only she’d never gone swimming the day bacteria entered her bloodstream through a scratched mosquito bite.

Caloundra post office worker Celeste Stirrup, 52, took her five-year-old granddaughter Indiana for a morning swim in the shallow waters at Bulcock Beach, Caloundra, last month.

Mrs Stirrup said the mozzie bite on her right upper thigh was a few days old, red and angry, but not itchy.

“I had scratched it but not heavily or aggressively,” she said.

“We were on the shoreline near the surf club. The water was flat. We didn’t go out because Indiana can’t swim properly but we sat with out legs in the water and I dragged her through the shallows and we played there for about 40 minutes.”

A few days passed and Mrs Stirrup thought nothing of her ocean swim again until she noticed a 20cm size circle on her thigh where the bite had been.

She recalled it feeling hard, tender, and warm to touch.

After a normal day’s work Mrs Stirrup told her husband she was going to shower before dinner.

“I broke out in a fever and started feeling unwell so grabbed a cold washer, put the aircon on and went to bed early,” she said.

She woke about 2am feeling awful, unable to shake the fever. She noticed a pink patch of skin had appeared near the bite.

Celeste Stirrup's leg infection. Picture - contributed.

“That’s when the blisters started,” Mrs Stirrup said.

“It almost felt like a volcano erupting under my leg.”

Her doctor put her on strong antibiotics.

The first big blister burst – creating the main point of the open wound on her leg.

“It became dead tissue but wasn’t too painful because there was so much fluid,” Mrs Stirrup said.

“I was so scared and had no idea what was going on. It was changing so quickly and just kept getting worse.”

Celeste Stirrup's leg infection. Picture - contributed.

The morning of Australia Day, Mrs Stirrup woke up with an even larger open wound on her leg – which just a week ago had been a tiny mozzie bite.

Mrs Stirrup had her wound dressed at Sunshine Coast University Hospital and after being reassured all was well, she sent her husband home, before being told the worst of it.

“The surgeon said to me they were putting me through for a CT scan and if they found a particular type of bacteria I’d be raced off for an immediate amputation,” Mrs Stirrup said through tears.

“Which was terrible to hear all on my own.

Celeste Stirrup's leg infection. Picture - contributed.

“I couldn’t talk. I was in shock. I was sobbing and struggling to breathe.

“Before that I’d felt detached from my leg and the wound and what was happening but then it all hit me.”

Fortunately, it was a different kind of bacteria, Cellulitis bacteria, and shortly after the CT scan medical staff informed her an amputation was not necessary.

Mrs Stirrup remained in hospital until February 6 before she returned for surgery ten days later to try and reduce it the wound’s size, remove the dead tissue, and bring in more fluid.

In a few weeks she will go in for a skin graft surgery, followed by another few weeks of recovery.

“One nurse told me it’s the fourth case they’d seen of this on the Sunshine Coast in the past fortnight. She said it was seasonal,” Mrs Stirrup said.

“This shouldn’t happen to anybody. If you have a bite or a cut you shouldn’t go for a swim.

“I think a lot of people think salt water is good for sores and that it’s healing but it’s really not.”

Celeste Stirrup's leg infection. Picture - contributed.

Mrs Stirrup hasn’t been able to work for five weeks and said it felt like living a nightmare.

“It’s been a ride, a crazy nightmare. It’s shocking, I’ve lived in Caloundra for 10 years and I’ve swum in the ocean all my life since I was a baby, yet I’ve never heard of or seen anything like that,” she said.

“This is really concerning to me. I don’t want to ruin the reputation of our beaches but something needs to be done.

“What if it had been my granddaughter Indiana?

“What people need to really understand is if ocean water is caught and pooled and not able to flow in and out, it is called, “brackish waters” and is perfect for bacteria to grow and thrive and it is not good for swimming in.”

Despite the stress, trauma, and torture of the past six weeks Mrs Stirrup she’s been comforted by the undying support of her husband, family, friends, and her workplace.

Celeste Stirrup's leg infection. Picture - contributed.

“It’s getting a lot better and the pain isn’t too bad but it looks terrible,” she said.

“When my leg was unbandaged it was worse. I was just crying looking at it. I couldn’t believe my leg looked like that, it just didn’t look my leg...it looked like a piece of beef hanging up in a butcher.

“After the skin graft I’ll be left with a massive scar too.”