Grandad loses both legs after bite from dog that killed his brother-in-law on day of his funeral

A grandad had to have both of his legs amputated after his “big softie” pet dog bit him and caused sepsis.

The bite came on the day of Mark Day’s brother-in-law Barry Harris’s funeral - who died after also being bitten by the dog.

The family had no idea that Japanese Akita Ted - who resembled a "giant teddy bear" - had deadly bacteria crawling inside his mouth.

Barry, 46, died at his home three days after Ted snapped at his arm, causing an infection and sending him into cardiac arrest.

One month later, Mark, 61, was bitten as he walked the dog on the day of Barry’s funeral.

Mark, who’s been hospitalised since late August, has had all his left-hand fingers amputated and will lose both legs by next week due to sepsis caused by Ted’s toxic mouth.

‘It was the softest dog’

Pauline Day, 62, who is married to Mark and was Barry’s sister, said: “They weren’t even attacked. Ted literally just broke the skin on my husband and my brother.

"It was the softest dog but it had food issues. Whenever it was near food it was so aggressive.

"We think it was mistreated as a puppy."

Dog was bought from a private Facebook seller

Barry, a groundworker, bought Ted from a private Facebook seller in a London flat in May this year for some "good company" after going through a break-up.

The seller told Barry that Ted, who was 15-months-old, was well trained but when he got home he found that the pooch didn’t even respond to his name.

On July 7 - after less than six weeks together - Ted bit Barry as he was trying to remove an animal bone from his mouth while out on a walk and his arm soon swelled up and he fell ill with cold sweats and headaches.

Three days later, Barry tragically died at his home after his heart stopped.

He had ‘legs like blocks of ice’

Tragedy struck again on Barry’s funeral on August 19 when Mark took Ted for a morning walk and was nipped by the dog on his hand.

He had "legs like blocks of ice" the next day but put it down to a hangover until - three days later - he was rushed to hospital with a 39C temperature, before he went into cardiac arrest and suffered multiple organ failures.

Doctors told Pauline, from Colchester, Essex, that Mark’s condition was "100 per cent" due to a bacterial infection from a dog.

Mark, a builder, has been in hospital ever since and now faces having both legs amputated next week due to sepsis. He’s already had seven fingers removed.

Pauline said: "It’s like something out of a nightmare. You just don’t believe this has happened.

"The shock of my brother was one thing and then my husband. It’s just surreal."

Pauline had Ted put down on the same day that doctors said that Mark’s condition was due to bacteria from a dog.

She also checked the paperwork that Ted’s owner gave to Barry when he bought the dog earlier this year and found that he had no vaccination history.

"In the booklet, there was nothing with vaccinations.

"They gave him a false history."

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