Florida Teen Contracts Strange Beach Condition And Now His Family Is Trying To Warn Others
When you book your beach vacation, do you imagine things will go wrong? No, you are dreaming of having fun in the sand and surfing. And a family from Indiana was having that great moment that we all long for, until one of them found himself in a fight for his life.
Vacation expectations
Yes, Kylei Parker and her loved ones left for Destin, Florida for a vacation filled with sun, sand and relaxation. But when it was finally time to swap the Indiana gloom for the cool Florida breeze, the incidents began immediately.
Nonstop rain
While Florida is known for its warm climate, it is also known for its rain. And the rains were uninterrupted when Kylei and her family landed in the Sunshine State, making that nickname bitterly ironic. It also rained the next day and the next day. Everything left a dark cloud, both figuratively and literally, during the holidays. If only the family had known what else awaited them ...
At the ankle
Eventually, the bad weather passed, although vacationers found no soft sand and gentle waves when they ventured down to the beach. The storms had kicked up some pretty dangerous waves, and that meant people were only allowed to enter the water up to their ankles.
Invisible threat
But the family wasn't going to let bad luck spoil their good time, and they happily took advantage of the sand and the sea. Meanwhile, an invisible threat lurked in the water ... and he decided to make Kylei his next victim.
Sharp pain
The next morning, Kylei woke up with persistent pain in her right calf. However, his mother Michelle assumed he was just a charley horse. So, they discarded it and went about their day, believing that the pain would eventually go away. But unfortunately for Kylei, it didn't.
Perceive something dark
The next day, the agony intensified to an unimaginable level. Poor Kylei couldn't even stand up. And when Michelle ended up having to carry her daughter from place to place, the family realized that she was no ordinary charley horse.
Emergency MRI
So after returning to Indiana, Michelle took Kylei to the doctor. The young woman was told to pack a suitcase and head to the emergency room. It was a very serious situation and the people at the hospital soon realized. When they got the results of Kylei's MRI, they were really shocked.
Act Fast
Apparently Kylei had contracted necrotizing fasciitis. That's a rare flesh-eating bacteria that had likely entered your body through a small scratch on your foot. But now there was no time to speculate. If the doctors didn't act fast, Kylei had a great chance of losing her leg or, worse, her life.
Septic shock
Doctors began by pumping Kylei's body with fluids to keep her blood pressure from dropping further. But the test was far from over. Kylei began to suffer a septic shock, so the medical team immediately took several more scans of her leg. That led to a terrifying discovery.
Emergency operation
There was a large pocket of infection accumulating behind Kylei's right knee and it had started to spread rapidly throughout her body. If there was any chance of saving the young woman's leg, the doctors had to operate, and they had to do it now.
Working day and night
Kylei was rushed for emergency surgery, where surgeons worked around the clock to clear as much of the infection as possible. However, unfortunately, this initial operation was not enough.
Infection Free
In the days that followed, Kylei underwent two more surgeries. Then finally the doctors deemed her infection free. Sick and exhausted, Kylei spent the next week in the hospital recovering from the ordeal.
Difficult recovery
With lines of stitches to her leg, a heavy bandage, and an IV to her arm, Kylei was finally allowed to return home. But the following months would prove to be the hardest part of his recovery.
Learning to walk again
Between the damage to her leg caused by bacteria and extensive surgeries, it took Kylei months of physical therapy to learn to walk again. For Michelle, however, this was a small price to pay to have her daughter well and better.
Road to recovery
"We are not completely okay, but we are on the road to recovery," Michelle wrote on Facebook. "We will have numerous doctor visits, physical therapy and blood tests to continue, but the only thing that matters is that my girl is ALIVE."
Warning others
After living through this traumatic experience, Michelle and her family began working to educate others about the threat of the deadly bacteria. With more than 100 million tourists traveling to Florida each year, there is a real risk that some of them will contract this type of infection.
Critical knowledge
"She wanted to share her story in hopes that it can help save someone else," Michelle continued in her post. "We share it because this is very important and a lot of people don't know it. Once you start experiencing the symptoms, it's already running rampant in your body."
Easy to ignore
The effects of necrotizing fasciitis are often ignored until it is too late, as was the case with a man from Tennessee. He was visiting the beaches of Destin much like Kylei and her family. And after returning home from his trip, he noticed a large black sore on his back.
Bacteria Fatal
Believing it to be the product of old age, the man paid no attention to the sore, as well as a series of red bumps that had suddenly appeared on his arms and legs. But on July 7, just 48 hours after his last swim in Florida, he sadly passed away. It was all due to the same bacteria that had nearly cost Kylei her life.
Polluted beaches
Worse still, it appears that Destin wasn't the only beach destination plagued by these deadly microbes. Reports of similar infections soon began to appear in cities along the Gulf Coast. And unfortunately for a Tampa Bay resident, news of this threat came too late.
Travel dreams
Carolyn "Lynn" Fleming lived a normal life, working as a bank teller while raising a family south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. But no matter where he was, he always clung to a dream of going somewhere far away.
Making the move
Lynn always wanted to move to a sunnier place to escape the freezing winters. So after she retired and her husband died, she finally felt like it was her chance to make up her mind and make the change.
On Florida
He moved to Florida, settling in the Tampa Bay area. Near the Gulf of Mexico and surrounded by palm trees, she was living her dream, and shortly after arriving, she fell in love with the place.
Love life
The southern lifestyle was better than Lynn could have imagined. He joined a local singles club, and before long, he was hanging out, playing cards, and sharing dinner with his new friends. Beyond that, there was an activity that was very special to her.
Dark Visit
While Lynn had moved south, her family still considered Pennsylvania their home. She would welcome her son and his family whenever they had the opportunity to take a vacation. However, his most recent visit was not to the photo albums.
Arriving at the beach
One morning, Lynn took her usual walk on Coquina Beach, and this time, she was delighted to bring her visiting family. Enjoying the feel of the sand on her toes, the retiree headed for the water.
Slight wound
While walking along the water's edge, he stumbled upon a small promontory below the surface. He emerged with a lump on his chin and a small gash less than an inch long. Fortunately, nothing seemed serious.
Apparently fine
The lifeguard on duty checked the wound and gave Lynn a bandage; she insisted nothing was wrong and the day continued as planned. In fact, later, the family went out to dinner that night as if nothing had happened.
Not convinced
However, still unconvinced of his mother's well-being, Lynn's son Wade continued to bring up the subject. "He got mad when I tried to make a fuss, you know how mothers are," he said. Finally, he dropped the subject, until the next day.
Strange happenings
The next day, Wade put a new bandage on the cut and packed up for the drive home. Once he was on the way back to Pittsburgh, however, strange things began to happen to his mother in Florida.
Symptoms got worse
The wound continued to bleed and Lynn told her family that it still hurt. As the days passed, his leg began to redden and swell. No first aid kit could stop the symptoms, so her friends told her she had to do something quickly before it got even worse.
Anti-Tetanus and Antibiotics
So, on his advice, he went to an urgent care center, where doctors checked his leg. They gave her the tetanus shot and prescribed antibiotics and, like the lifeguard, they let her go.
Searching
Confident that she would recover soon, Lynn went home and waited for the pharmacy to send her the prescription the next day. Everything seemed to be settled for the moment.
Unanswered
When the recipe was ready, her friends picked it up and took it home. But after there was a knock on the door, however, there was no response. Worried, they broke in.
Black leg
Lynn was unconscious on the floor of her bedroom! Her injured chin had turned completely black, so her friends quickly called an ambulance and took her to the hospital.
Fighting for his life
There, doctors immediately began to work to discover the problem. It didn't take long for them to realize that the cut on his leg was much worse than the ER doctor thought. Soon, they were trying to save his life!
Meat-like Bacteria
His cut, which was less than an inch long at first, had become infected with necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating bacteria. And it was causing problems in the rest of his body.
Continuing life support
Succumbing to the bacteria, Lynn suffered two strokes and kidney failure; her body went into sepsis. They put her on life support. Meanwhile, his son and wife rushed back to Florida.
See his mother die
They arrived just in time to see her die. Lynn died holding her son's hand. His devastated family members were driven by this terrible news and vowed to do everything possible to ensure that his legacy survived in a way that would help others.
Urgent warning
Now they are urging others to take precautions in the warm waters where bacteria tend to grow. "We hope people have fun on the beach, but be careful if you cut yourself," Wade said. "We don't want anyone else to have this kind of phone call with this kind of news about their family member."
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