Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries

The Extraordinary Case of Alex Lewis (2016x31)

Air date: Apr 28, 2016

A remarkable, uplifting documentary following the extraordinary story of a man trying to rebuild his body and his family after a devastating illness. In November 2013, father-of-one Alex Lewis caught a common cold. In an extremely rare case, the cold developed into toxic shock syndrome, with shattering effects. Alex lost both his legs, both his arms and part of his face as doctors fought to save him. But his physical rehabilitation wouldn't be his biggest challenge; rebuilding his relationship with his partner Lucy and winning back the love of his three-year-old son would be. Filmed intimately over two years, and from just days after he lost his limbs, filmmaker Leonardo Machado's documentary follows Alex's incredible story as he seeks to rebuild his life and his relationships and to reinvent himself. He wakes up an alien to himself, and a different father to Sam, his son, who can't bring himself to kiss his dad's new disfigured face.