A young sports lover who lost his arms and legs after suffering from meningitis had been sent home because medics thought he had flu.

Davide Morana, 24,  has been left confined to a bed unable to do anything for himself after surgeons were forced to amputate his limbs in January to save his life.

Davide has now set up a crowdfunding campaign with a goal of £87,720  to get the new limbs which would enable him to regain his independence.

The Italian was living in the city of Murcia, in south east Spain, when he started feeling unwell in January with a fever and sore jaw.

As he began to feel worse he went to a hospital accident and emergency unit, where nurses took blood and urine samples.

But nothing was picked up on the tests and he was sent home after he was diagnosed with flu.

But his condition deteriorated with a fever of more than 39C and he began vomiting.

A day later he woke up to find brown marks covering his face.

He said: "I was feeling very weak. I felt pain in my feet, they felt as if they were frozen, and when I took off my socks I saw how my feet were covered with brown marks like the ones on my face, but a bit bigger."

Davide went back to the hospital and was diagnosed with meningitis.

Because of the infection, in less than two days the stains turned violet and spread over most of his body.

He was diagnosed with multiple organ failure and had to fight for his life.

A statement on his crowdfunding campaign said: "After a week in induced coma, he started to wake up.

“He remembered everything, he moved and tried to speak."