Greg Manteufel was a perfectly healthy man living with his family in Wisconsin. He loved riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and he loved his pet dogs.
But all that changed when Manteufel suddenly became ill with flu-like symptoms that went from bad to worse. "It hit him with a vengeance," his wife, Dawn, told ABC News. "Bruising all over him. Looked like someone beat him up with a baseball bat."
Emergency room doctors performed a series of tests on him that revealed the cause-- a bacteria known as capnocytophaga. The bacteria comes from the saliva of dogs, and triggered a horrific infection throughout his body. Within a week, doctors had to amputate his legs.
"We can't wrap our heads around it that all of the sudden, he's 48 years old and been around dogs all of his life and this happens," Dawn said. She also told reporters that her husband is taking it in stride, and just wants to keep his life. "He kept just saying, 'Take what you need, but keep me alive.' And they did," Dawn said.