The family of Bonita Fetterman allege the mother contracting a deadly flesh eating bacteria at Myrtle Beach. Debate sparks as authorities dispute claim.
Bonita Fetterman according to family members has been left fighting for her life after allegedly contracting a deadly flesh eating bacteria after swimming at a popular swimming spot at South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach. A claim that authorities dispute.
In a post on Facebook, the woman’s daughter, Marsha Barnes Beal on Sunday wrote how her mother was hospitalized while vacationing in Myrtle Beach.
‘She came in contact with a life-threatening flesh-eating bacteria after putting her feet in the water at Myrtle Beach,’ Beal wrote in the post. ‘Surgery is the only option until it is completely cut away from her leg, with the hopes of it not spreading.’
In her post, the daughter included photos showing her mother’s discolored leg and injuries due to the infection, adding that her mother is stable, but in an intensive care unit and breathing through a respirator.
A report via WMBF describes the deadly infection spreading after Fetterman went into the water with a cut on her leg last week. The day after the family returned to their Lumberton home in North Carolina, the woman spotted blisters appearing throughout her leg.
Told Fetterman’s granddaughter, ‘The doctor came in and spoke with me at Chapel Hill. He said it was a flesh eating bacteria from her open wound’.
Matters had exacerbated to the point, come Sunday morning, Fetterman had to be airlifted to hospital where she underwent surgery to cut away the diseased flesh to stop it spreading.
Underscoring the seriousness of the flesh eating disease, also known by its scientific name, necrotising fasciitis, a report via the dailymail describes the malignancy as a rare but serious bacterial infection that can destroy the skin, fat, and the tissue covering the muscles within a very short time.
Adding, ‘It can start from a relatively minor injury, such as a small cut or insect bite when bacteria enters a wound. The disease can be caused by several types of bacteria. Cases where people have caught it from the ocean have been infected with saltwater containing a Vibrio species.
As well as being found in warm sea waters, these organisms and are often present in raw oysters, shellfish, and other seafood.
It is an extremely uncommon cause of necrotizing fasciitis and more likely to affect people with compromised immune systems. The infection gets worse very quickly and can be fatal if it’s not recognised and treated early on.
The sooner treatment begins, the more likely the patient will recover from the infection and avoid serious complications, such as limb amputation.’
On Monday, the city of Myrtle Beach addressed the incident on its own Facebook page, saying it was aware of the woman’s claim but could not definitively confirm Fetterman having caught the flesh-eating bacteria while swimming in the ocean.
Wrote the city, ‘We have had no reports and no direct contact about any such issues. The city has been unable to confirm the location or date of any such incident. At this point, all we have is a Facebook post, with no confirmation,’
Adding, ‘Our ocean water quality is tested twice weekly, with excellent results. If we can determine where such contact may have occurred, we can order additional water quality tests to determine whether any connection exists.’
Commentators have since taken to wondering why other swimmers haven’t also been affected, especially those with weakened immune systems and that matters weren’t adding up….
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