A MOM of two nearly died after being infected with flesh-eating bacteria at a Florida beach.
Genevieve Gallagher, 49, contracted Vibrio vulnificus bacteria through a scratch on her left leg that she thought was harmless.
Genevieve Gallagher, 49, went for a swim with a scratch and ended up with a flesh-eating infection[/caption]
Gallagher went into septic shock, was placed on a ventilator, and nearly died of her organs being shut down after a few surgeries[/caption]
Graphic pictures from the hospital showed Gallagher’s leg covered in decaying flesh[/caption]
Gallagher is still in the hospital after she was infected with the deadly bacteria while swimming with her daughter in the Santa Rosa Sound, located off Pensacola Beach, on July 27.
Three days later, her leg started to balloon, blister, and burn. Gallagher said she felt sweaty and sick.
“It feels like somebody took gasoline, poured it on my leg, and lit my leg on fire. That’s what it feels like,” Gallagher told the Pensacola News Journal in an interview from her hospital bed.
Once she was at the hospital, doctors rushed her into emergency surgery after they found Vibrio vulnificus, which can lead to life-threatening conditions, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
“I thought I had an infection, but never did I think I had a flesh-eating bacterium,” Gallagher told the Journal.
“There’s no antibiotics that they can give you to stop it. They just have to get out any infected skin and tissue. They’ve got to get it off your body.”
Surgeons had to cut away most of the tissue below Gallagher’s left knee to stop it from spreading.
“They debrided my leg down to the bare meat. They took most of the muscle, almost down to the bone,” Gallagher recalled.
Gallagher went into septic shock, which caused her organs to shut down.
She was intubated as doctors warned her family she might lose not just her leg, but her life.
The Florida Department of Health warns you to avoid water with scratches or use a waterproof bandaid[/caption]
Gallagher will stay in the hospital for about 3 more weeks[/caption]
Medical workers worked to clean out her leg and remove any decaying tissue until the infection was finally gone.
After several surgeries and a failed muscle graft, Genevieve is still in recovery at the hospital, where she’s expected to stay for two to three more weeks.
“Just looking at my leg, it doesn’t even look like my leg anymore. It looks deformed right now. The pain is unbelievable,” Gallagher said.
The Florida Department of Health warns against mixing water and wounds, meaning beachgoers should avoid getting in the ocean with fresh cuts or scrapes.
How to avoid Vibrio vulnificus
Below are tips for beach goers to avoid infections from Florida Department of Health:
- Do not eat raw oysters or other raw shellfish.
- Cook shellfish (oysters, clams, mussels) thoroughly.
- For shellfish in the shell, either a) boil until the shells open and continue boiling for 5 more minutes, or b) steam until the shells open and then continue cooking for 9 more minutes. Do not eat those shellfish that do not open during cooking. Boil shucked oysters at least 3 minutes, or fry them in oil at least 10 minutes at 375°F.
- Avoid cross-contamination of cooked seafood and other foods with raw seafood and juices from raw seafood.
- Eat shellfish promptly after cooking and refrigerate leftovers.
- Avoid exposure of open wounds or broken skin to warm salt or brackish water, or to raw shellfish harvested from such waters.
- Wear protective clothing (e.g., gloves) when handling raw shellfish.
Source: Florida Department of Health
The FDOH announced on Thursday that two more Florida counties, Escambia and Volusia, had cases of the flesh-eating bacteria.
Vibrio vulnificus bacteria typically live in warm seawater, officials said.
It can also be contracted by eating seafood.
People who get Vibrio vulnificus might experience symptoms including cramps, vomiting, nausea, fever, and diarrhea.
Although infections are rare, there have been 25 cases in Florida so far this year, and 13 in July alone.
Five people in the state have died as a result.
The CDC estimates that there are 80,000 Vibrio infection cases per year in the United States.
