A MAN who lost part of his leg after picking up the "superbug" MRSA in hospital is launching a support group to help fellow sufferers.

An estimated 5,000 people in the UK die each year from infections they have contracted in hospital. The most common type is methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, which cannot be cured with the penicillin family of antibiotics.

The bug is carried by one in three people, and in most cases it does no harm. But it can be dangerous to people who have low immunity or who have had an operation.

In hospitals it can be spread via medical staff and can live in dust and bedding and on equipment. Once in the bloodstream, it can cause raging infections, including the potentially fatal septicaemia.

Despite a Government drive to improve hospital hygiene, Britain remains the worst country in Europe for MRSA infections.

The Hospital Acquired Infection Register, or HAIR for short, is an attempt to gauge the true extent of the problem - labelled a "national disgrace" by its founder - and bring it to public attention.

Former guardsman John Lake, 64, was fit and well enough to carry out a full-time job until he broke his leg in an alleged assault near his Merley home nearly three years ago. He underwent two operations, the second of which left an open wound.

He was sent to another hospital to undergo a skin graft. While he was on a ward, the man in the opposite bed was found to have MRSA and was moved into isolation.

John believes he contracted the infection just after staff had vigorously cleaned the infected patient's bed space. His dressing had been removed for doctors' rounds, leaving his leg wound exposed.

"The skin graft could not be performed and after a couple of weeks, I was sent home still suffering from this deadly disease. Every type of antibiotic was tried and none seemed to work," he said.

"I had a six inch wound and you could see the bone, the screws in the piece of metal that had been put in, and all the infection. My leg was dying downwards."

John attended hospital as an outpatient for nearly 16 months and was seen at home every day by a nurse. He tried a new antibiotic from America called Zyvox, but that also did not work.

Eventually he agreed to have his leg amputated below the knee. "I said: 'I can't stand this any more'." The operation was carried out in November 2001.

John was finally rid of the MRSA, but the cost of contracting the infection was immense. "I was a canvasser and was walking five miles a day, but I haven't been able to work since all this happened. The kind of work I was doing, I could have continued until I was 70," he said.

"It's hard to adjust. Even now, if I'm on my own, I look down and think: 'Christ, look at this'. I feel angry because I feel negligence has put me in the situation I'm in today. I believe the general standards of cleanliness in hospitals today are lower than ever before."

To register on HAIR is free and can be done online at www.medihelpdirect.com/hair.htm. Anyone who would like to receive newsletters, join a chat room to contact other sufferers, or have access to legal advice is asked to donate £15 towards expenses. John would also like to hold meetings for anyone who has been affected by MRSA. He can be contacted by email on john@pcwizz.net or by ringing 01202 889230.