A TEENAGER who had three cardiac arrests after initially thinking he had flu has had to have both legs amputated after suffering sepsis.

Burnley student Ethan Hunt, who is a keen cyclist, remains in a critical condition in hospital with his parents and sister by his bedside. But he is completely unaware he has had both legs amputated at the knee.

Ethan’s auntie Nicola Spencer, 47, and uncle Ben Spencer have set up a fundraising page in order to help pay for Ethan’s prosthetic legs and to fund his specialist care when the 16-year-old is eventually discharged from Wythenshawe Hospital.

Ethan is currently in an induced coma, has sepsis, pneumonia, respiratory failure and MRSA but his auntie has backed him to overcome it all.

Ms Spencer said Ethan, who attends Blessed Trinity RC College, Burnley, had initially been suffering what the family thought was a cold or flu on February 3.

Five days later he was laughing and joking in the afternoon and went for a nap in the afternoon.

When his mother, Melanie, went to check on him he had a purple rash across his whole body. She called for an ambulance and told Ethan’s father, Andrew to come home.

Because of delays they drove Ethan to Royal Blackburn Hospital where he was found to have sepsis and put into an induced coma.

He was transferred to Wythenshawe and after his condition deteriorated and there was no pulse in his legs a decision was made to amputate.

Ms Spencer said: “It has been an absolute nightmare. I am still thinking I am just going to wake up from a bad dream and I am sure my sister feels even worse.”

Speaking about the decision to amputate Ms Spencer said: “It is going to be an enormous shock to him. Right at this moment in time we don’t know how he is going to react. The amputation was the best and only decision his parents could make. They made that decision in order to save his life. That is the top and bottom of it.

“I am sure they would much rather have a son and Jodie (Ethan’s sister) would much rather have a brother with no legs than not having him at all. I would rather have a nephew with no legs than not have him at all. He is a funny, happy, good looking lad and I am sure when the shock has gone he will overcome this. He is quite a strong person.”

There will be fundraising events and a fundraising page has been set up at www.gofundme.com/new-legs-for-ethan-hunt.To donate raffle prizes, email nic.spenc@hotmail.com or find Nicola Spencer on Facebook.