Pittsburgh Family: Woman Dies From Flesh-Eating Disease
ELLENTON, Fla. (CBS/AP) - A Florida woman died after contacting a flesh-eating bacteria while her family was visiting from Pittsburgh.
Wade Fleming told The Associated Press on Monday that Lynn Fleming, who retired to Florida's Gulf Coast, contracted flesh-eating bacteria and died nearly two weeks after she fell and scraped her leg while walking on a beach in Florida.
"She didn't know that there was a small ditch there and she stumbled and hit the embankment on the other side," her son, Wade Fleming, said. "She had a small little 3-,4-inch long cut on her shin bone."
The 77-year-old mother stumbled and fell into the water on Coquina Beach while her family was visiting from Pittsburgh. The wound swelled up and continued to bleed, leading her to urgent care, where she was prescribed antibiotics and given a tetanus shot.
The next day, friends found Lynn Fleming semi-conscious in her home and rushed her to a hospital. She was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, a rare but deadly bacterial infection that kills the body's soft tissue.
A 12-year-old girl from Indiana visiting Florida in June with her family also contracted the flesh-eating disease, but she survived.
Lynn Fleming was diagnosed with the flesh-eating disease and died Thursday after suffering two strokes and organ failure, almost two weeks after her injury.
"Maybe if she was diagnosed a little earlier, you know, maybe we'd be sitting here talking to my mom without a leg, but you know, with a life," Wade Fleming said.
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