Doctors believe that his badly infected leg was caused by an organism from the sea in Cuba entering a bite he had scratched, causing the serious infection.
The grandfather of two is accustomed to getting bitten while on holiday and thought no more about it after he suffered from bites all over his body.
Garry, from Preston, Lancashire, said: "The weather was very hot and humid and as a result I got bitten.
"The bites itch so naturally you scratch them. I know people say you shouldn't but you just can't help it and it gets too unbearable not to scratch them."
According to the Daily Mail, doctors knew he was suffering from cellulitis but did not know the cause.
Fortunately, the IV antibiotics they gave him started to work and the swelling of his leg went down.
Speaking to the Lancashire Evening Post, he said: "It is quite a serious infection and it was only later on after my leg was out of danger that my wife told me that one of the doctors had told her that things had been so serious that I could have lost my leg.
"My leg looked a right mess and was extremely red, blistered, swollen and enlarged."
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