So, picture this: during a family get-together, this dude steps in to stop a brawl between two relatives, but guess what? He gets chomped on by one of them!
But hold on, it gets even worse...
Believe it or not, this unfortunate soul actually catches a flesh-eating disease from the bite on his thigh made by his own family member. Can you imagine?
From Science Hub:
The 52-year-old Riverview resident, Donnie Adams, initially noticed a small bump on his left thigh, which emerged two days after he'd broken up a fight between two family members at a gathering, The Tampa Bay Times reported. Thinking the wound looked like a bite mark, Adams went to a local emergency room to get a tetanus shot and antibiotic treatment.
But three days later, "my leg was very sore. I couldn't walk, it was very warm and very painful," Adams told local news network WFLA.
Adams returned to the emergency room at HCA Florida Northside Hospital in St. Petersburg, where doctors determined he needed immediate surgery. Dr. Fritz Brink, general surgeon and wound care specialist, treated Adams and later told the Tampa Bay Times that grey fluid seeped out of Adam's leg as soon as his surgical instruments pierced the tissue. This is a sign of necrotizing fasciitis — colloquially known as a "flesh-eating" infection.
Multiple types of bacteria can cause necrotizing fasciitis, which triggers intense inflammation that causes the infected tissue to rapidly die, or "necrotize." Bacteria known as group A Streptococcus, or group A strep, are likely the most common cause of the gruesome disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, certain microbes found in warm water, including Vibrio vulnificus, are the bacterial species that tend to make headlines.
Flesh-eating bacteria typically enter the body through breaks in the skin, such as cuts, burns, insect bites, or as in Adams' unusual case, human bites. If left untreated, the infections can lead to a life-threatening immune reaction called sepsis, organ failure and death. "Even with treatment, up to 1 in 5 people with necrotizing fasciitis [caused by group A strep] died from the infection" in the past five years, the CDC website notes.
You can't help but wonder what kind of nasty bacteria was hanging out on that family member's teeth. I mean, it must have been seriously problematic to cause such a gruesome flesh-eating disease that could've actually killed the guy.
Lesson learned: if you ever find yourself in the midst of a brawl at a family get-together, it's probably best to stay far, far away. Safety first, folks!
