JEFF WHITE
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i got this off a link off bfhp.unbelievable that this can happen,makes ya think everytime a hook gets you,or a fish gets you!
A rare flesh-eating bacteria has claimed the life of a 69-year-old man in Marion, Mass.
On July 15, Al Holt went fishing with a friend and returned home later that day complaining of a sore finger.
Holt and his wife, Linda, went to Tobey Hospital, where a doctor treated him for gout and sent him home with anti-inflammatory medication. Hours later, Holt said that the pain was unbearable and when the couple returned to the hospital, Holt was rushed to see a specialist at New England Medical Center, according to the The Standard Times.
"From the time we went back, the rest of his fingers were swollen and red as well as his hand, and there were starting to appear black spots on his fingers and hand," Linda Holt said.
Doctors suspected an infection was causing the swelling, so they operated and found a bacteria, called necrotizing fascitis, eating away at a layer of tissue around the muscles in Holt's hand.
Necrotizing fasciitis is a bacterial infection caused commonly by group a strep bacteria, which is the same bacteria that causes common strep throat, according to the National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation.
Doctors believe Holt contracted the bacteria when he was pricked by a fish hook.
"He went fishing and either a fish cut him and the bacteria was on the fish or he had an open cut, and that's how the bacteria entered his body," Linda Holt said.
Surgeons removed Holt's hand, and then arm, in an effort to cut the bacteria off in its path. Days later Holt's organs started shutting down, and he was placed on life-support. He died on July 30.
"It's an horrendous disease, and if anyone ever goes fishing and they get pain, severe pain that they can't stand, they should go to a doctor right away and let them know that they've been fishing," Linda Holt said.
A rare flesh-eating bacteria has claimed the life of a 69-year-old man in Marion, Mass.
On July 15, Al Holt went fishing with a friend and returned home later that day complaining of a sore finger.
Holt and his wife, Linda, went to Tobey Hospital, where a doctor treated him for gout and sent him home with anti-inflammatory medication. Hours later, Holt said that the pain was unbearable and when the couple returned to the hospital, Holt was rushed to see a specialist at New England Medical Center, according to the The Standard Times.
"From the time we went back, the rest of his fingers were swollen and red as well as his hand, and there were starting to appear black spots on his fingers and hand," Linda Holt said.
Doctors suspected an infection was causing the swelling, so they operated and found a bacteria, called necrotizing fascitis, eating away at a layer of tissue around the muscles in Holt's hand.
Necrotizing fasciitis is a bacterial infection caused commonly by group a strep bacteria, which is the same bacteria that causes common strep throat, according to the National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation.
Doctors believe Holt contracted the bacteria when he was pricked by a fish hook.
"He went fishing and either a fish cut him and the bacteria was on the fish or he had an open cut, and that's how the bacteria entered his body," Linda Holt said.
Surgeons removed Holt's hand, and then arm, in an effort to cut the bacteria off in its path. Days later Holt's organs started shutting down, and he was placed on life-support. He died on July 30.
"It's an horrendous disease, and if anyone ever goes fishing and they get pain, severe pain that they can't stand, they should go to a doctor right away and let them know that they've been fishing," Linda Holt said.
