 Towards the end of the tour , Hammond fell seriously ill ; according to him , a mosquito stung him in the groin area , close to a strain he had suffered , causing blood poisoning . Playing against Jamaica , he moved awkwardly and his team @-@ mates observed him to be in pain . He missed the remaining matches of the tour , and none of the doctors he saw were able to help . On the journey home , during which no doctor was available , his condition worsened , confining him to his cabin with a severe fever for most of the trip . The day after his arrival home , in April 1926 , Hammond had the first of 12 operations at the nursing home to which he was taken . His condition worsened to the point where the doctors believed he would die ; they considered amputating his leg , a suggestion vetoed by his mother out of concern for his career . Hammond later claimed that his illness remained a mystery to those treating him . A visit from Warner encouraged Hammond to believe recovery was possible , and he began a slow return to health about a month after his return to England . By July , he could watch Gloucestershire playing in Bristol , though he missed the entire 1926 season . No official announcement about Hammond 's illness was made , other than to say he was in a nursing home . Although the cause of the illness was never made clear , David Foot has argued that it was syphilis or a related sexually transmitted disease . He has also suggested that its treatment , which in the days before antibiotics probably involved mercury , adversely affected Hammond 's subsequent character and personality , leading to moody and depressive behaviour . Rumours of this nature circulated among his contemporaries for many years before Foot published his theory . That winter , Hammond coached in South Africa , where it was felt the climate might aid his recovery . 
