Four months after the incident, Mr Lewis has undergone numerous operations at Salisbury Hospital to amputate gangrenous limbs and attempts to rebuild his right arm.
He has also suffered facial disfiguration.
Despite his ordeal, Mr Lewis, from Stockbridge, Hampshire, said: "In a strange way, it is the most amazing thing I have ever lived through.
"I think nothing but good will come from it. I think you cope because you have to. If you don't, you will probably die."
He hopes he will one day be fitted with 'blade runner' legs, and dreams of walking once more in the countryside with his partner Lucy Townsend, son Sam, three, and labrador Holly.
Ms Townsend, a pub landlord, said: "All Alex's internal organs broke down so he was straight on dialysis. His kidneys were the first to stop, then his lungs, his kidneys and his heart followed.
"Everything was shutting down, so when we got to intensive care the doctors basically said to me, "Go and say goodbye."?"
Such infections are uncommon and those causing serious problems are rarer still. The condition is usually treated with injections of antibiotics.
- Mail On Sunday
