A family kayaking trip turned into a nightmare for an Alabama man who contracted a rare bacterial infection that can kill up toone in threeof its victims.
Ricky Rutherford, 41, was enjoying a day at Second Creek in Waterloo with family and friends when he was infected withnecrotizing fasciitis, wife Cassey Rutherford told NBC affiliateWAFF.
Cassey wrote in a series ofFacebook poststhat Ricky came home from work with a 103 degree fever and pain in his legs on July 8, two days after their kayaking trip.
Courtesy Cassey Rutherford
Ricky was treated with antibiotics after a trip to the emergency room, but returned to the ER for a second time after his fever worsened.
Cassey said doctors initially suspected a flesh-eating bacteria was responsible for her husband’s illness, butdismissed the notion– until they sent away cultures from his skin that confirmed the worst.
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Ricky remains hospitalized as of Tuesday night, though Cassey said Monday her husband’s surgeon said he would likely only have to stay for another week.
Necrotizing fasciitis is a bacterial infection that spreads quickly in the body and can lead to sepsis, shock and organ failure, according to theCenters for Disease Control.
It typically enters the body through cuts and scrapes, burns, insect bites, puncture wounds, and injuries that don’t break the skin.
Martin Schwartz/People
Early treatment is key to curing it, and symptoms include a red or swollen area of the skin that spreads quickly, as well as severe pain and fever.
“The doctors told us it could be a microscopic hole that it could come into and still spread like that,” Cassey told WAFF. “It’s hard to believe that there was a group of us and my husband, being the healthiest immune system, got this.”
source: people.com
