Man's flesh-eating bacteria infection potentially linked to bathroom renovation

Josh Munoz was in the shower when he noticed the skin on his thigh peeling away. (Fox 2 Detroit)

An anniversary trip to Texas nearly turned fatal for one Detroit man last month when he noticed the flesh on his thigh was peeling away while he was in the shower.

“I ended up wiping away flesh from my thigh area, and it was not like you popped a blister but something was definitely wrong,” Josh Munoz, a home contractor, told Fox 2 Detroit.

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Munoz flagged his wife, Sarah, and then called his doctor, who told him to get to a hospital immediately. But the couple, who have three sons aged 16, 14 and 2, chose to drive 20 hours back to their home state to be near his children. Munoz said he was drifting in and out of consciousness during the journey.

Munoz told the news outlet that when they finally arrived at the hospital, the doctor diagnosed him with necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating bacteria, and that he was undergoing surgery within an hour. Doctors reportedly told him that if he and his wife had stopped to stay overnight during their cross-country trek, the infection likely would have killed him.

The rare bacterial infection spreads quickly through the body can lead to death and limb loss. Diagnosis, rapid antibiotic treatment and prompt surgery are vital in treating it. Munoz told Fox 2 Detroit that doctors believe he contracted the infection by coming into contact with fecal bacteria while working on a customer’s bathroom renovation.

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The small business owner has already undergone three surgeries and one pigskin graft, according to the Houston Chronicle.

“I got to see what the wound looked like,” he told the news outlet. “It looked like Hannibal Lecter cut the top half of my thigh off.”

His recovery will include up to six months of bed rest, and several more surgeries. Friends have set up a GoFundMe page` to help the family cover medical expenses and living expenses for their three boys.

“It’s horrible financially, what a burden,” Munoz told Fox 2 Detroit. “My family and I are dependent on my small business that we started with my hands, with my income, there’s no income when you can’t walk.”