Veteran Infected With MRSA Six Times In Two Years

A Falklands War veteran has contracted a hospital superbug SIX times in TWO years. Alan Marshall, 59, of Greenways, Porthcawl, has suffered endless pain since an accident 14 years ago caused both his legs to be crushed.

He had to have his left leg amputated and his right leg is constantly infected with a wound that will not heal. Mr Marshall said he contracted MRSA on six occasions after visiting the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend to have his wound treated. ‘I’m at a stage where I couldn’t care what happens to me,’ said Mr Marshall. ‘It’s murder. They can’t get rid of the infection. I want a way out of it.’

The former military policeman has suffered from deep vein thrombosis and regular blood clots since his accident and also has diabetes and an enlarged heart. He has to take a cocktail of drugs to cope with the pain, including one related to morphine. Mr Marshall said there was no suggestion staff at the hospital were responsible for him catching MRSA.

A Bro Morgannwg Trust spokeswoman said staff were strictly required to enforce the hospital’s infection-control policy very seriously. ‘The National Public Health Service monitors the incidence of MRSA infections and this has confirmed that the rate of MRSA infection within the trust is below the national average and has been in decline over the last 18 months,’ she said. ‘The rates of MRSA infection within the NHS in Wales are also lower than in England.’

The most recent figures available show deaths linked to hospital superbugs rose 39 per cent in one year – from 1,168 to 1,629 between 2004 and 2005 in Wales and England.

Deaths from MRSA have risen from just 15 in 1993, to 467 in 2005.