Mother Genevieve Gallagher practically loses life and leg after contracting flesh-eating micro organism throughout Florida swim

A Florida mother practically misplaced her life and leg to gnarly flesh-eating micro organism after taking a swim at a neighborhood seaside, in accordance with a report.

Genevieve Gallagher, 49, stays hospitalized after she contracted the “Vibrio vulnificus” micro organism whereas swimming together with her 7-year-old daughter, Mila, in Santa Rosa Sound off Pensacola Beach in late July, the Pensacola News Journal reported.

Three days after the swim, whereas at work, Gallagher started to indicate regarding signs, together with sweating, feeling unwell, and having her leg swell and bubble with blisters, she recalled to the native publication.

She was rushed into emergency surgical procedure later that afternoon, the outlet reported.

“I thought I had an infection, but never did I think I had a flesh-eating bacterium,” Gallagher instructed the Journal.

“There’s no antibiotics that they can give you to stop it. They just have to get out any infected skin and tissue. They’ve got to get it off your body.”

The discovery led docs to start a grueling technique of eradicating a lot of the tissue on her left leg under her knee to cease the flesh-eating micro organism from progressing, she mentioned.

“They debrided my leg down to the bare meat,” Gallagher mentioned from her hospital mattress.

“They took most of the muscle, almost down to the bone, basically. It went up almost to my knee, so it’s a pretty large amount, and it’s all the way around my leg.”

Gruesome photographs obtained by the outlet present Gallagher’s leg, which is roofed in swaths of decaying flesh.

She believes the micro organism entered her physique from a small reduce on her left leg.

The mother went into septic shock after arriving within the hospital, inflicting her organs to fail.

While Gallagher was intubated and medical employees attended to her wounds, her household was warned that she couldn’t simply lose her leg but in addition die from the sickness.

“They were finally able to get me stable enough to wake me up. Sacred Heart saved my leg, thank God,” Gallagher mentioned.

“Mila saw me in the hospital and said, ‘I wish this happened to me and not you,’ and I started crying. That broke my heart. I was like ‘Mila, no, I’m so glad it didn’t happen to you. Your little body could not have taken all this that’s going on’,” the tearful mom recalled.

Gallagher is at present in remedy at UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, the place docs are serving to her by way of a grueling restoration.

The 49-year-old coordinator of a doctor apply has had a number of surgical procedures since then, together with having muscle faraway from her again and positioned on uncovered bone on her leg. The surgical procedure failed on account of blood clots, and he or she should bear one other, the outlet reported.

“Just looking at my leg, it doesn’t even look like my leg anymore,” Gallagher described.

“It looks deformed right now. The pain is unbelievable. It feels like somebody took gasoline, poured it on my leg, and lit my leg on fire. That’s what it feels like,” she mentioned.

Gallagher will stay within the hospital for one more two to 3 weeks of remedy.

“It’s been a lot on me and my family. My husband drives to Shands [hospital] every weekend and stays with me because my mental health has just been horrible,” she mentioned.

“I’ve been strong through it all, but it’s been a lot mentally, emotionally and physically,” she mentioned.

Vibrio vulnificus micro organism sometimes reside in heat seawater environments, according to the Florida Department of Health.

The bacterium is of course occurring, however infections stay uncommon, the division mentioned.

The authority nonetheless warned swimmers to not enter the water if they’ve any contemporary cuts or scrapes.

There have been 23 reported circumstances of the micro organism infecting people in Florida, and 5 deaths in 2025 alone.

In 2024, there have been 82 reported circumstances, information reveals.