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Mom Shares Warning After Nearly Losing Life To Flesh-eating Bacteria Infection

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A Florida woman and mom of three is speaking out and sharing a warning after she contracted and nearly died from a bacterial infection nearly two months ago.

Genevieve Gallagher of Pensacola, Florida, told ABC News her ordeal since becoming infected in late July has left her traumatized, and she doesn't wish her experience on anyone.

"I do not want this to happen to anybody else. This is the most traumatic thing that has ever happened ... Not only to me [but also] to my family," Gallagher said.

Courtesy Genevieve Gallagher - PHOTO: Genevieve Gallagher with her daughter Mila.

The 49-year-old said on July 27, she, her husband Dana Gallagher and their 7-year-old daughter Mila had gone out boating in Pensacola Bay, something they'd done before. At the time, Gallagher said she had a small cut on her left leg but had placed a waterproof bandage over it.

"At the end of the day, I washed it out real good with our fresh water rinse. Me and my daughter went home … washed up and everything," Gallagher recalled. "Monday, everything was fine. Tuesday, everything was fine. Wednesday is when all hell broke loose."

Courtesy Genevieve Gallagher - PHOTO: Genevieve Gallagher with her husband Dana Gallagher and daughter Mila.

Gallagher, who is also the mom of 25-year-old twin sons, said she was at work as a coordinator of physician practice at a hospital when she noticed her left leg felt hot and was swelling.

"I ran to the bathroom and I had an ankle bracelet on. The ankle bracelet was actually embedded in my leg, like I couldn't even see it," she recounted.

Gallagher said she used a pair of doctor's shears to cut the anklet off but then her leg turned a black color, and later, "bubbles of liquid started forming all over my leg."

Deadly 'flesh-eating' bacteria cases rise along Gulf Coast, doctors warn

At a local hospital emergency room, Gallagher said doctors diagnosed her with a vibrio bacterial infection -- sometimes called "flesh-eating bacteria" -- of the small open cut.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vibrio are a group of bacteria that live in warm, coastal waters and can cause an illness called vibriosis, which impacts up to 80,000 people in the U.S. Each year.

Courtesy Genevieve Gallagher - PHOTO: Genevieve Gallagher shared a photo of Pensacola Bay, where she was visiting when she contracted a vibrio bacteria infection.

There are multiple signs of a vibrio infection, which most often causes food-borne illness with symptoms including nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal issues like watery diarrhea, a fever and chills. It can also cause infections in the bloodstream or of open wounds, causing pain, warmth at the site of the infection, or, when the bacteria travels into the bloodstream, blistering skin lesions or dangerously low blood pressure.

The CDC notes that anyone can contract a vibrio infection but some may be at higher risk, including those who expose an open wound to coastal waters or people who have eaten raw seafood like oysters or exposed a wound to raw seafood or drippings.

Bacteria levels prompt some beach closures ahead of Fourth of July

A vibrio infection can be life-threatening and lead to more complications such as necrotizing fasciitis, a severe infection and tissue death of the flesh around a wound, as well as the connective tissues.

Gallagher said on July 30, she started to go into septic shock as her organs began to fail.

For nearly a week, Gallagher said she was told doctors worked hard to save her leg and her life, flushing out the bacteria and removing dead tissue.

Courtesy Genevieve Gallagher - PHOTO: Genevieve Gallagher in the hospital after contracting a vibrio bacteria infection.

"They took off all of the skin from about my knee down, a lot of the muscle, things like that," said Gallagher, before she was transferred to another hospital for more surgery and treatment.

Gallagher said she is still in the hospital recovering from muscle graft surgery and complications but is grateful to be alive.

"They did an excellent job saving my life. I could have lost my life. Never mind my leg -- my life," the mom of three said. "I am forever grateful to the physicians there."

Gallagher said she has a long road to recovery and her husband has started an online fundraiser to help with medical costs in the meantime.

Despite the infection, Gallagher said she's not giving up on going to the beach but hopes her story can serve as a precaution for others who love the water as much as she does.

"I wouldn't want to wish this on my worst enemy. So I just want people to know, please, do not go in there if you've just shaved your legs. Do not go in there if you have a little cut on your finger," Gallagher said. "Your life is not worth it. Losing your leg or being in pain like this and away from your family is not worth it."

Flesh-eating Bacteria Tried To Kill Her. Here's What It Took To Survive.

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Deaths From Flesh-eating Bacteria Are On The Rise. Who Is At Risk?

Deaths from "flesh-eating" bacteria are on the rise across the southeastern coasts of the U.S. At least five people in Florida, four in Louisiana and one in the Outer Banks have died this year from infections that can cause necrotizing wounds.

The culprit, the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, thrives in warm seawater. Florida has seen 16 cases this year, according to the state's health department. Seventeen cases have been reported in Louisiana — more than previous years' annual averages. North Carolina has seen seven cases this year so far, the state Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to NBC News. And Mississippi has had three cases so far this year, the state's health department says.

Initial deaths from the infection in Florida were reported in counties spread around the state's extensive coastline, from Bay County in the Panhandle and Hillsborough County, where Tampa is, on the Gulf Coast, to Broward County in Southeastern Florida and St. Johns County just south of Jacksonville.

The bacteria can get into the body through open wounds in the skin and cause the surrounding tissue to die, a condition known as necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People can also get Vibrio vulnificus from eating contaminated foods, particularly raw oysters. It's unclear how the people in Florida were infected.

About 1 in 5 people with a Vibrio vulnificus infection die, according to the CDC.

Antarpreet Jutla, an engineering professor at the University of Florida, said that infections are still rare but "something is off this year." Still, he said there are too many unknowns to be certain what's causing the rise in infections at this time.

"This is certainly not normal, that's one thing," Jutla said. "We haven't had that many cases early on in the summer for a very long time."

Jutla said Vibrio vulnificus infections tend to increase after hurricanes. Last year, Florida saw a total of 82 cases, which may have been exacerbated by the "extremely active" hurricane season. The bacteria can linger in hurricane floodwaters.

"Something happened this year that triggered the pathogens a little bit more than before," he said.

Hurricane season this year is still expected to be above normal as the U.S. Enters its peak period, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Thursday.

Jutla's research group is investigating why there are high concentrations of plankton and chlorophyll — indicators for vibrio — across Florida's panhandle. He calls it a "concern."

What is Vibrio vulnificus?

Vibrio vulnificus is one of over 200 species of Vibrio bacteria, said Rita Colwell, a professor emerita of microbiology at the University of Maryland.

The majority of Vibrio infections aren't harmful to humans, Jutla said. Some only affect other animals.

But Vibrio bacteria do cause about 80,000 infections in people each year, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Most of those cases are gastrointestinal. Only a small handful — 100 to 200 cases — are due to Vibrio vulnificus. Other Vibrio species, including Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio alginolyticus, are often the cause of those stomach illnesses. Another type of Vibrio, Vibrio cholorae, causes the diarrheal disease cholera.

Because Vibrio bacteria prefer warm water, they are typically found along the southeastern shores of the U.S., but they are also found on the West Coast. As ocean temperatures warm, more cases have been found farther north in recent years, Jutla said, including some in New York, Connecticut and Maryland.

Who is at risk?

Vibrio bacteria can creep in open wounds after spending time in salty or brackish water, said Dr. Norman Beatty, an infectious disease doctor at University of Florida Health. Most cases he's seen have been associated with spending extended time in the water, but he says that even a brief exposure could be the "only thing needed."

Visible signs of an infection can start in just a few hours, Beatty said, and include redness, swelling and "bull's-eye" blisters. The site will also be painful. If infection progresses, it can get into the bloodstream and cause sepsis, which can be deadly. Symptoms of sepsis include fever, chills and dangerously low blood pressure, according to the CDC.

People with liver cirrhosis, weakened immune systems and those over 65 are most at risk for infection, Jutla said.

Vibrio vulnificus infections can be treated with antibiotics.

How to prevent Vibrio infections

Beatty said he recommends covering up any open wounds before going into the ocean. Even a waterproof Band-Aid does the job, he said.

If people think they have an infection, they should seek care immediately, Beatty said. Delaying can be the difference between developing severe complications and a more mild infection.

"A delay in presenting to health care is truly the likely reason why most people have a more serious outcome than others," he said. "People who present within the same day with signs and symptoms of early infection, who receive antibiotics, can do well and can avoid a lot of these serious complications."

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