FAIRHOPE, Ala. – A woman contracted a dangerous flesh-eating bacteria while fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Gulf Coast News Today reports the 70-year-old woman spent 10 days in a hospital after contracting vibrio vulfinicus bacteria in June while fishing off a pier in Fairhope, Ala.
Recommended Videos
The woman pricked the back of her hand while reaching into a bucket of live shrimp to be used as bait.
According to the report, the woman's husband says his wife was "deathly sick" three hours later.
The woman immediately underwent surgery in an attempt to save her hand. She underwent a second procedure to remove additional dead tissue.
Vibrio vulfinicus bacteria can live in the Gulf of Mexico and can be contracted by swimming in warm waters where it is present or by infection through a scrape on the skin.
Officials are trying to determine whether the bait was from the Gulf.
WSB reports 46 people contracted the bacteria in the waters of the Florida coast in 2016, with 10 of those people dying.
“With all things considered, when you look at the statistics, the doctors keep telling us she’s a miracle,” the woman's husband told the newspaper. “Most people either die or loose a limb.”