Ohio man recovering from flesh-eating bacteria infection after visiting Florida

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WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS BELOW

An Ohio man who was visiting family in Florida on spring break when he suddenly felt ill is miraculously on the road to recovery with all limbs intact after doctors diagnosed him with a flesh-eating bacteria infection in his foot.

Barry Briggs said he noticed swelling in his foot following a boating trip near Weedon Island at the end of March, but that he suspected he was sunburned and boarded his flight back home, where his condition worsened.

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“Once this thing took off, and it takes off quickly apparently, it was going one inch an hour up my leg,” Briggs told ABC Action News.

Barry Briggs, pictured with unidentified family members, noticed swelling in his foot before boarding his flight back to Ohio but thought it was simply sunburned.  (Nicole Myre Briggs)

The Waynesville dad was rushed to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton where he tested positive for necrotizing fasciitis caused by group A Streptococcus bacteria. The rare bacterial infection spreads quickly through the body and can cause death. It requires accurate diagnosis, timely antibiotics and often surgery to stop the infection from spreading, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The infection can cause life-long complications from loss of limb or severe scarring due to infected tissue. Even among patients who receive treatment, up to 1 in 3 people die from the infection.

Briggs spent 11 days in the hospital and underwent several surgeries to save his foot. (Nicole Myre Briggs)

Group A Strep is through to be the most common cause of necrotizing fasciitis, with the bacteria entering the skin most commonly through cuts and scrapes, burns, insect bites, puncture wounds, surgical wounds or blunt force trauma.

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Briggs told ABC Action News that he doesn’t remember being scratched or bitten and that doctors weren’t able to locate a puncture wound. He reportedly spent 11 days in the hospital and has undergone several skin grafts in an effort to save his foot.

Photos taken prior to Briggs’ first surgery and posted to the “Barry’s Medical Updates” Facebook group show a large area of his left foot turning a dark purple color and a large bubbled blister.

Last week, Briggs told his followers that “things are looking mostly good. There’s just a couple spots that are ‘iffy’ and may need another graft.”

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“As the healing continues the pain has increased some. But I’ve been told that it gets worse before it gets better,” he posted on April 25.

On Monday, Nicole Briggs posted in the group that a nurse who visited him at home had concerns about healing, and that he was scheduled to see the doctor on Tuesday.