{"id":1010667,"date":"2026-08-19T11:38:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T11:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1010667\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T11:38:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T11:38:32","slug":"flesh-eating-bacteria-caused-mans-leg-to-swell-to-8-times-its-size","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1010667\/","title":{"rendered":"Flesh-eating bacteria caused man’s leg to swell to 8 times its size"},"content":{"rendered":"

A victim of the deadly flesh-eating bacteria that is surging in southern US states is sharing the harrowing details of his ordeal \u2014 as well as some stomach-churning photos.<\/p>\n

Officials along the Gulf Coast in Florida and Louisiana are warning about a rise in cases of Vibrio vulnificus<\/a>, the deadliest species of Vibrio bacteria, which can cause severe and life-threatening infections resulting.<\/p>\n

At least 28 cases have been reported this year \u2014 but in 2025, Ben West was among those infected. A 38-year-old dad, he is now awaiting amputation of his left leg after he says doctors already \u201ccut the meat, cut the tissue\u201d of his leg to try to preserve it.<\/p>\n

Ben West contracted the flesh-eating bacteria Vibrio vulnificus while fishing last summer in Port St. Joe on Florida\u2019s Gulf Coast. Gofundme<\/p>\n

West was fishing in Port St. Joe, Fla., in late August 2025, and knew enough about the risks to wear tall boots \u2014 but that ultimately wasn\u2019t enough to protect him. In fact, those boots rubbed a raw spot around his ankle, he told NewsNation<\/a>. That\u2019s where the bacteria took hold.<\/p>\n

\u201cBenjamin began complaining of serious burning in his foot and ankle and it began to swell terribly,\u201d his wife Janie West wrote on GoFundMe<\/a>, where she has also shared several photos of his leg throughout the illness. \u201cIt was the worst pain he\u2019s ever felt and he kept telling me his leg felt to be on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

He underwent six surgeries in attempts to save his leg. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey go in with a laser, and they cut the meat, cut the tissue out\u00a0to try to get ahead of the bacteria because there\u2019s nothing to stop,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After some improvement, though, the wounds were reopening and leaving \u201choles\u201d up and down the infected area. <\/p>\n

His leg swelled to up to eight time the size of the right one, and he complained of constant burning and aching. His wife said it felt like \u201celectric shocks\u201d throughout the day.<\/p>\n

West finally decided to get the leg amputated below the knee, which his wife said will happen this week.<\/p>\n

What is Vibrio vulnificus?<\/p>\n

This bacteria thrives in coastal waters and can enter the body through an open wound, which is what happened to West. But most people get it by eating raw shellfish, particularly oysters, according to the CDC.<\/p>\n

Florida has historically had the most cases of Vibrio vulnificus in the country. This year, 14 people in the state were infected, and two people died<\/a>. Last year, it killed five.<\/p>\n

West\u2019s left leg appeared to be healing nicely until a few months ago, his wife wrote. Gofundme<\/p>\n

An infection can cause the flesh around the wound to die (called necrotizing fasciitis), giving the bacteria its \u201cflesh-eating\u201d reputation.<\/p>\n

It quickly becomes fatal if it enters the blood stream, where it can cause skin lesions, fever, chills, and dangerously low blood pressure.<\/p>\n

The bacteria multiply in salt and brackish water (where salt and fresh water meet) during the warmer months.<\/p>\n

Ben West\u2019s story<\/p>\n

West went to the hospital two days after that fateful fishing trip, but he was misdiagnosed with cellulitis. He was prescribed antibiotics for cellulitis \u2014 but not the ones needed to treat his Vibrio infection.<\/p>\n

Ben and his wife Janie West have posted about Ben\u2019s journey after surviving a Vibrio infection. Gofundme<\/p>\n

By the next day, he\u2019d declined \u201cextremely fast,\u201d his wife wrote. He was \u201cat death\u2019s doorstep,\u201d put on a ventilator, and went through three surgeries over the next few days to try to remove the infected tissue.<\/p>\n

Doctors said things were going well. By September 2025, they told West they wouldn\u2019t have to amputate. They moved forward with skin grafts to cover the lost flesh. <\/p>\n

\u201cBen has over 300+ staples along with stitches holding the skin graft in place,\u201d his wife wrote.<\/p>\n

Over the next few months, West went through more surgeries to remove all the fluid that accumulated, physical therapy and countless painful wound dressings to heal his leg.<\/p>\n

After ten months, West started to feel like he was at a \u201cstandstill\u201d with healing.<\/p>\n

West\u2019s healing leg started to decline a few months ago. Gofundme<\/p>\n

West consulted with surgeons to amputate the leg below the knee. Gofundme<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said the pain he suffers from day-to-day here recently is not even comparable to the pain in the beginning \u2014 it\u2019s worse,\u201d Janie West wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the shoes, the pain, to the size, smell and doctors\u2019 visits, to buying and changing bandages, it has always taken over an hour in all to unwrap, clean the leg then rewrap it, every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

He decided to consult with a surgeon to remove the leg from the knee down. Meanwhile, wounds that were previously closed were opening and \u201choles\u201d were appearing along his leg.<\/p>\n

As of the last update, they planned to do the amputation this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s so ready to be out of so much pain,\u201d she wrote. \u201cHe\u2019s feels his quality of life will absolutely improve once he becomes completely mobile again! But for now we are just taking this day by day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Avoid Vibrio by cooking all shellfish and being careful around shells and washing your hands after handling them. Stay out of the seawater or brackish water, especially if you have any broken skin or cuts. If you get in the water with a wound, wash it immediately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A victim of the deadly flesh-eating bacteria that is surging in southern US states is sharing the harrowing…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1010668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[11],"tags":[118197,23053,723,210,37416,67,132,68,1154],"class_list":["post-1010667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-amputation","tag-bacteria","tag-florida","tag-health","tag-infections","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-us-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117121981218523350","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1010667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1010668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1010667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1010667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1010667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}