Fitness fanatic contracts flesh-eating bacteria after treading on shells during ... trends now
A South Carolina man was infected with a flesh-eating bacteria after walking on seashells - as scientists warn increasing numbers of similar cases could be linked to climate change.
Brent Norman was strolling along the shores of Sullivan's Island and the Isle of Palms near Charleston, South Carolina. in his effort to get 15,000 to 20,000 steps every day when he stepped on some shells in late April.
Days later, the health-conscious man was in excruciating pain and said his foot became swollen and he could no longer walk.
He went to the emergency room, where a doctor informed him he had contracted Vibrio, a deadly flesh-eating bacteria that lurks in seawater and estuaries.
'It's maybe as if someone had driven a — I don't know, a nail through my foot,' Norman told WCIV.
Brent Norman (pictured) was infected with a flesh-eating bacteria after stepping on seashells while walking along a South Carolina beach
Days later, the health-conscious man was in excruciating pain and said his foot (pictured) became swollen and he could no longer walk
The flesh around his heel appeared blistered, red and swollen, which led him to go to the doctor, who informed him he had contracted Vibrio, a deadly flesh-eating bacteria
The flesh around his heel appeared blistered, red and swollen, which led him to go to the doctor.
'Everyone behind the check-in counter, their eyes were about double the size they normally were. I could tell people were uncomfortable sitting around me looking at it,' Norman said.
'She lanced it,
