An American may have contracted flesh-eating bacteria after walking barefoot on the beach last week.
Brent Norman from the American city of Charleston is an avid hiker and prefers to do so on the coast of Sullivan’s Island and Isle of Palms. But when he started such a journey last week, he stepped on a shell. That happens to him often, but this time there was more going on.
“Because the tide was very high, unfortunately I ran into several shells,” he told the local news station WCIV. “I grew up on beaches my whole life and I’ve stepped on probably over 10,000 shells. ” But in the days after his walk, he began to feel great pain in his leg. That increased and Norman described the pain as a thunderbolt being pushed through his leg. After a week and a lot more swelling, he could no longer walk.
On Thursday he decided to go to the hospital, where the medical staff looked at him in amazement. “Everybody’s eyes behind the registration desk were about twice their normal size,” he said. “I could tell people were uncomfortable sitting around me and seeing it.”
In the hospital he received a surprising diagnosis: his leg was infected with vibriosis – caused by vibrio bacteria. Such an infection can lead to necrotizing fasciitis, a serious disease in which the flesh around an open wound dies.
Norman received an antibiotic injection in hospital and will now have to take medication for the next few weeks. He does not return to the beach immediately for a while.
© WCIV
2024-05-12 04:41:11
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