Barry Keoghan almost died from a rare flesh eating disease

Saltburn actor Barry Keoghan has opened up about a life-threatening he developed before shooting a film.

In a conversation with GQ, the Irish actor said he got necrotizing fasciitis (also known as the 'flesh-eating disease') in his arm before filming The Banshees of Inisherin.

It is a rare infection that can happen when a wound gets infected. Initial symptoms include intense pain or loss of feeling in the affected area, skin swelling, and flu-like symptoms.

It is advised to visit the hospital as soon as possible as necrotising fasciitis "gets worse quickly and can be fatal," according to the NHS.

During the conversation, Martin McDonagh, who wrote Keoghan's role of Dominic Kearney in the film, said: "I’m not sure if he was on a lot of meds, but he seemed to shrug it off."

"We were only about four days out from shooting, and his arm was puffed up. But he was like, ‘Yeah, no, I’m going to be fine—I’ll see you on Tuesday.’ I went to the hospital thinking, S****—is he going to die? Let alone, is he going to make the movie," McDonagh told the publication. "But I came out of there energised and looking forward to it.”

Keoghan recalls asking doctors whether he was going to die.

"'Well, we don’t know,'" they told him, adding that amputation of his arm was a possibility.

Luckily, the actor fought off the infection and was left with nothing but a scar from the surgery.

"Just remember this when you’ve been nominated for an Oscar," he recalls McDonagh telling him at the time.

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