What started as a simple scrape has turned into a medical nightmare for one Florida teen.
After swimming at a park in Niceville, Florida, 17-year-old Joziah Thompson got what was initially a minor scratch on his leg.
Only two days later, he was rushed to the hospital with a red, swollen leg, where doctors confirmed he was fighting infection from a potentially deadly flesh-eating bacteria.
The teen underwent several emergency surgeries to remove damaged tissue before being sent home a week later.
Doctors confirmed Joziah contracted Vibrio vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacterium that naturally occurs in warm coastal waters, typically where freshwater meets saltwater.
The rare but deadly infection can cause severe damage to skin and soft tissue if an open wound comes into contact with it.
“It’s just been a whirlwind trying to make sure he’s OK, and it’s been very taxing for sure,” Joziah’s mother, Tirzah Thompson, told Fox10. “What child do you know that wants to spend their summer fighting for their life?”
While the teen is recovering, he’s currently on an aggressive antibiotics course and still faces the risk of heart issues and infection, as well as possible amputation.
While rare — an estimated 100 to 200 cases happen in the US each year — Vibrio vulnificus is lethal, with a more than 50% mortality rate.
The rod-shaped bacterium can also be contracted by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters.
Oftentimes, it causes mild illness with symptoms like watery diarrhea, cramps, nausea, vomiting, fever and chills.
But the bacteria can become life-threatening if it gets in the bloodstream, causing skin lesions that blister and dangerously low blood pressure.
If a wound has been infected, the area will show signs of redness, pain, swelling, warmth and leaking fluids.
Several dozen cases were reported last summer across multiple states, including Florida, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.
The Florida Department of Health reported a total of 33 cases last year, with five deaths.
Evidence of the flesh-eating bacteria was also found this past spring in the waters of Long Island, according to researchers at Stony Brook University.
A GoFundMe was set up to help with medical bills, while Joziah’s mother pushes for more awareness around the deadly illness and potential risks in public waters.
“I’m pushing for a system to be put in place to know the bacteria levels in local waters,” Thompson said. “I don’t want this to happen to any other children.”
