- A man was bitten by a family member at a party while trying to break up a fight.
- 3 days later he struggled to walk, and ER doctors discovered a fast-moving infection of necrotizing fasciitis.
A Florida man almost lost his leg after he was bitten by a family member, causing a flesh-eating infection.
Donnie Adams, 52, stepped in to break up a brawl at a family event in February, Tampa Bay Times reported. Later, he realized he'd been bitten on his thigh during the kerfuffle. He went to the ER for a tetanus shot and antibiotics, and was sent on his way.
Three days later, he could not walk on his leg, he noticed a small red bump. Adams went back to the ER, and was sent straight to Dr. Fritz Brink, an osteopathic physician, who took one look at his leg and said he'd need emergency surgery, WSAV reported.
During the surgery, Brink confirmed Adams had necrotizing fasciitis, a rare and extremely serious infection, typically caused by group A strep. The infection eats away at a person's flesh, and can ultimately be fatal.
"I would've never imagined that a human bite would turn into something so horrific as a flesh-eating bacteria," Adams told WSAV. But, he told the Tampa Bay Times, "a human bite is dirtier than a dog bite as far as the kinds of bacteria that grows."
The infection would likely have already spread to his abdomen if Adams had waited another day before returning to the hospital and would have been at high risk of sepsis shock, Brink said.
Quick diagnosis, antibiotic treatment, and prompt surgery are important to stop the infection. Brink cut out the infection and but was surprised at how much infected flesh there actually was.
"You're torn between being as aggressive as you can be to stop the infection from spreading and leaving as much tissue behind so that it won't take two years to heal," Brink said.
After the operation, Adams stayed in the hospital for almost three weeks recovering before he headed home where he then face six months before he would be fully recovered, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
He now sports scars on his legs but is just grateful to still have his leg, and he said that everyone involved in the fight is very sorry.