Health

Florida man gets flesh-eating bacteria after lake trip

A Florida man says he was infected with a flesh-eating bacteria from a day at the lake — even though he never stepped into the water.

Tyler King, who is from Santa Rosa Beach, wrote on Facebook that he developed a massive skin rash on his left arm Friday after paddling across a lake.

But hours later, King said, he started to feel discomfort in his left arm while on a bike ride in a local state park.

“Upon returning to where we started, my arm was starting to get pretty sore,” he wrote. “I had figured that it was from riding aggressively thru the trail, as it’s been a while since I’ve rode a bike like that.”

Within a half-hour, he noticed his arm became swollen and “was starting to change color.”

King said he took some Benadryl and went to sleep, only to wake up to find his rash and swelling had nearly tripled in size.

He went to the emergency room and staffers told him that he’d been infected with Vibrio vulnificus, a rare bacteria that can be found in coastal waters.

“The infection from the bacteria did not reach the point of it causing Necrotising Fasciitis and actually destroying my muscle tissue and arm only because I acted quickly on getting medical treatment,” King said. “As quickly as it was spreading, only half a day or so more could have made some serious life-altering changes to my body.”

King said he’s now recovering from the health scare. “The swelling is mostly gone as well as the rash, but the pain in my elbow and arm is still pretty significant,” he said.

His case comes on the heels of a 77-year-old woman’s death last month after scraping her leg on a Florida beach. She contracted the flesh-eating condition and died two weeks later.