Man infected with flesh-eating bacteria after being bitten in a family brawl

09 June 2023 , 11:45

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Donnie Adams was lucky not to lose his leg and his life after the infection developed (Image: WSAV)

A man was left unable to walk after being bitten by a relative during a family brawl and picking up a gruesome flesh-eating bacteria.

Donnie Adams, of Tampa Bay, Florida, nearly lost his leg after the bacteria entered his body from an open bite wound he received trying to break up a fight at a family gathering.

Thankfully a quick-thinking doctor got the 52-year-old to the operating theatre and saved not only his leg, but his life.

About 70 per cent of the tissue in the front of the patient's thigh had to be cut out.

After he was bitten he tried to treat himself but when the pain continued to get worse he went to the hospital where he got a tetanus shot along with some antibiotics.

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The bite wound festered and symptoms worsened (NewsNation)

The infection continued to get worse despite this. He told local paper WFLA: "By the third day, my leg was very sore.

"I couldn’t walk, it was very warm and very painful."

Feeling something wasn't right, he went to the emergency room where Dr. Fritz Brink, an osteopathic physician at HCA Florida, saw something was seriously wrong.

Dr Brink recalled: "I looked at him, and I said to him that I need to take you to the operating room."

The doctor identified the flesh-eating bacteria necrotising fasciitis, which eats away at healthy body tissue.

Scarring left on Mr Adams' leg (WSAV)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it "is a rare bacterial infection that spreads quickly in the body and can cause death.

"Accurate diagnosis, rapid antibiotic treatment, and prompt surgery are important to stopping this infection."

It usually enters the body through a break in the skin such as a cut or scrape, burn, insect bite, puncture wound or surgical wound.

Dr Brink believed the bacteria could have come from the teeth of the person who bit Adams. He added: “There’s a lot of really bad bacteria that live between our teeth in our gums in our mouth."

Mr Adams had to undergo two surgeries to remove infected tissue from his thigh.

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He said: “If I would’ve waited … until the next day after that ER second visit, there was a good chance I would’ve lost my leg."

Medic confirmed that if he had waited much longer not only could he have lost the leg but the chance of death from septic shock would have drastically increased.

Quick treatment is essential for this type of infection with symptoms including redness, increased pain, or warmth.

According to the CDC, anyone worried they may have an infection should: "See a doctor right away if your skin becomes red, warm, swollen, or very painful soon after an injury or surgery."

Mr Adams described the horror of the infection saying: “It was unbelievable. But in my mind, I just had to get through whatever this was."

He added: “What you see now, you see not just a scar, but the beauty of the aftermath.

“I would’ve never imagined that a human bite would turn into something so horrific as a flesh-eating bacteria.”

Charlie Jones