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.
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."
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."
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.
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.
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.
"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."
