A young farm worker tragically passed away just a few weeks after being bitten by a fly. Andrew Kane, aged 31, was working on a farm alongside his sister when he noticed a red mark on his elbow from the insect bite. Despite receiving antibiotics at the hospital following his mother’s urging, Andrew collapsed during a night out two weeks later and was rushed to Northumbria Emergency Care Hospital. Doctors discovered that he had developed sepsis as a result of the horsefly injury.
Andrew, who had a seven-year-old daughter, spent several weeks in a coma before eventually succumbing on September 18, with his mother Rachel by his side. Originally from Northumberland, Andrew grew up in a farming family and pursued a career as a contract farmer after school.
Rachel recounted Andrew’s farming background and his battle with the infection that led to his untimely death. Despite initial signs of improvement during his hospitalization at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, the infection rapidly worsened, causing organ failure.
Rachel shared that even in his dire condition, Andrew showed care and gratitude by requesting presents for the nurses who attended to him. She expressed deep sorrow over the loss of her son, highlighting their close bond and the pain of his sudden decline. Andrew, survived by his daughter Skylar, sisters Antoinette and Ellesse, and nephew Hunter, will be laid to rest following a funeral in Morpeth.