Amputee's Courage - I Only See Blessings

He lost his hands and feet at 31, but David hasn’t let it hold him back

- Lynley Ward

When a virulent bacterial infection came close to claiming Auckland chemist David Gould’s life, having four limbs chopped off was a drastic but necessary act to cheat death.

Gravely ill with pneumococcal septicemia, David had blood clots at every extremity of his body, and gangrene had quickly taken hold of his hands, feet, parts of his ears and nose.

The young health professional was in a battle for his life, with doctors telling wife Dale to prepare for the worst after he was rushed to hospital in the dead of night and put on a respirator.

As specialists drew on every possible medical treatment to combat the killer disease, they were left with little alternative but to amputate. Already a cancer survivor after beating Hodgkin’s disease 10 years earlier aged 21, the new crisis would have a lasting impact for the rest of David’s life, requiring prosthetics for every limb on his body.

But several decades on from the life-changing ordeal, he tells Woman’s Day he’s got a lot to be thankful for and wants people to know no matter how tough things get, there’s always hope the situation will improve.

“We were able to discuss what life would be like without fingers and toes,” says Dale. “It was obvious he was going to lose them – they were black! I was more nervous about gangrene spreading up his body. I just wanted them off.”