TAMPA, Fla. — WARNING: This story contains graphic content.
A Florida fisherman is recovering after a fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico left him with a “flesh-eating” bacteria.
Mike Walton was sent to the hospital by necrotizing fasciitis, a rare and life-threatening infection.
Walton was about 20 miles off Florida’s coast when his hand was stuck by a fish hook and started swelling, according to a GoFundMe page for him set up by the Ozona Fish Camp.
The page said when Walton got to the hospital doctors told him the infection was spreading fasts and there was a chance he would lose his arm.
Necrotizing fasciitis is called a “flesh-eating” bacteria, but it doesn’t actually “eat” people’s flesh, according to NewsWeek. The symptoms can seem like the flu or gastroenteritis until blisters appear in an affected area.
Ozona Fish camp posted to Facebook that Walton was able to leave the hospital.
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