A Florida man nearly lost his leg — and could have died — from a rare flesh-eating bacterial infection that developed after he was bitten on the thigh during a family fight.
Donnie Adams, a 53-year-old funeral attendant from the Tampa suburb of Riverview, went to the emergency room in mid-February to have a coin-sized bump on his upper left thigh treated.
But that strange pain didn’t go away enough to resort to emergency room care. It was February 14th and despite tectonic shots and antibiotics three days later he was no longer able to walk. Thus the surgeon Fritz Brink understands that the man is risking his life.
His entire thigh — from knee to groin — was rotting: About 70 percent of the tissue in Adams’ anterior thigh needed to be removed.
But how was this possible? life-threatening that can be caused by a variety of different strains of bacteria, including group A strep and other bacteria found in water, dirt, or saliva.
The bacteria enter the body through a break in the skin, such as a cut, scrape, burn, insect bite, or open wound. From there, it invades and kills the subcutaneous tissue surrounding muscles, nerves, fat, and blood vessels. Bacteria spread quickly, so an infection can develop within hours to days. Human mouths are also a perfect breeding ground for a wide variety of bacteria that are normally destroyed by stomach acid. The bite would have allowed the bacteria to penetrate the underlying layer of tissue.
You will never know whether it was germs from your relative’s mouth or airborne microbes that got into the wound. Had Adams waited another day to return to the hospital the infection probably would have already spread to his abdomen with a high risk of sepsis shock.
Luckily the man not only survived but after six months of treatment he was able to walk again. To regenerate the tissue he had to place a sponge in his thigh to stimulate the creation of new blood vessels and speed up the healing process.
Adams said he hopes his story will encourage others to be cautious and have their injuries checked by medical professionals.
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