Florida man contracts flesh-eating bacteria after being bitten by RELATIVE while trying to break up fight at family party
- Adams was trying to come between two parents who were fighting when he was bitten
- Doctor revealed he was infected with flesh-eating bacteria
- Surgeons said he might have lost his leg or been in shock if he hadn’t gone to the ER
A Florida man has survived an infection with a flesh-eating bacteria he bizarrely contracted from another man while trying to break up a fight at a family party.
Donnie Adams was attending a family event in Tampa Bay in February when two parents started arguing.
Adams tried to come between them but one of them ended up biting him before he could stop the fight.
He immediately went to the hospital and received a tetanus shot and antibiotics, but said things only got worse.
“On the third day, my leg was very sore. I couldn’t walk, it was very hot and very painful,’ Adams said.
A Florida man survived an infection with a flesh-eating bacteria he bizarrely contracted from another man while trying to break up a fight at a family party
He eventually returned to the hospital, according to WSAVwhen he received startling news from osteopathic physician Dr. Fritz Brink of HCA Florida.
Brink told Adams he had necrotizing fasciitis, commonly known as flesh-eating bacteria.
The disease enters through a break in the skin, passes through the muscle sheath and destroys healthy tissue.
Brink immediately performed surgery to cut out the infected tissue in Adams’ thigh, which the doctor said was from the bite.
“A human bite is dirtier than a dog bite when it comes to the types of bacteria that grow,” Brink said. “Normal bacteria in an abnormal place can be a real problem.”
About 70% of the fabric on the front of Adams’ thigh had to be cut out, according to the Tampa Bay Weather.
“You’re torn between being as aggressive as possible to stop the infection from spreading and leaving as much tissue behind so it doesn’t take two years to heal,” Brink said.
Adams says if he hadn’t gone to the ER, “there was a good chance I would have lost my leg” or suffered life-threatening septic shock.
Donnie Adams was attending a family event in Tampa Bay in February when two parents started arguing
Adams (pictured right) was treated by osteopathic physician Dr. Fritz Brink (pictured left) at HCA Florida
Adams no longer has any functional issues but has an ugly visible scar on his thigh from the surgery
“They assessed my injury and it was very awful,” Adams recalled. ‘It was amazing. But in my mind, I just had to go through anything.
Adams needed nearly three weeks to recover in hospital, but is in the middle of six months of treatment to fully recover.
He no longer has any functional problems but has an ugly visible scar on his thigh following the operation.
However, Adams maintained a positive attitude about the whole process and owes his recovery to the two doctors, as well as regular prayer and meditation.
“What you see now, you see not just a scar, but the beauty of the aftermath,” he said.
“I never imagined that a human bite would turn into something as horrible as flesh-eating bacteria.”
