Man's warning after mystery over his 'flesh-eating' infection
A man says he was infected with a flesh-eating bacteria that rapidly spread over his arm and almost ended his life despite never entering water.
After spending the morning of June 28 paddle boarding on a Florida lake, Tyler King said he noticed a growing discomfort in his left arm.
But the active sports junkie dismissed the pain as the result of an aggressive bike ride.
Mr King runs a watersporting business in the area and is familiar with the various bacterial infections that can be contracted through water.
But he said he had not entered the lake that morning, so he was not concerned.
The pain continued to intensify and Mr King noticed a rash on his arm.
He credits the practical thinking of a friend who marked the parameters of the strange rash to track its progress.
Two hours later the marks showed the rash was spreading rapidly and Mr King “had no choice but to go to the emergency department”, he wrote on his Facebook page.
“I checked in around 7pm and was there until after midnight,” Mr King said after receiving blood transfusions and being discharged with several mediations.
The Florida man said hospital staff diagnosed him with Vibrio vulnificus, an infection he said could have led to the life-threatening and flesh-destroying bacteria, necrotising fasciitis, if he hadn’t sought medical help so quickly.
“Only half a day or so more could have made some serious life-altering changes to my body,” he said.
Two days after the terrifying incident Mr King described the pain as “pretty significant” and took to Facebook to share his story, warning others of how the virus can take hold without entering water.
A 12-year-old girl was recently struck down by a flesh-eating virus in Florida after she entered the water with an open wound.
But Mr King wrote on social media he had not been in the water leading up to the infection.
“I did not have any open wounds, nor did I swim in any water that day,” he said in an attempt to warn others.
“It is 100 per cent unknown as to why or how I was infected.”
According to Queensland Health, Vibrio vulnificus can be “life-threatening” and can lead to “rapid and severe tissue destruction requiring aggressive surgical cleaning of the wound or amputation” on rare occasions.
Mr King won’t let the near death experience stop him from entering the water again and left his followers with some advice if they suspect something similar.
“Listen to your body and never take unnecessary risks when it comes to your well being,” he said.
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