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A Michigan man has died from a flesh-eating bacteria after he rushed to Florida after Hurricane Ian to help with relief efforts.
James Hewitt, 54, of Jenison, passed away on October 11 after contracting Vibrio Vulnificus – which lives in warm saltwater – after he fell into a canal while working on his friend’s damaged boat in Naples, Florida, following Hurricane Ian.
The scrape on his leg became infected, causing the bacteria to enter his bloodstream, which led to sepsis, organ failure, and low blood pressure. He was hospitalized and later died, his daughter Kendall Smoes, 29, announced on Facebook.
‘He fought a hard battle but went peacefully [on October 11] with Joshua, Leah, and I at the bedside,’ she wrote on Facebook.
‘They weren’t really sure how things were going to go and that they really they encouraged us to get down here as soon as possible,’ Kendall told CBS Miami.
James Hewitt, 54, of Jenison, passed away on October 11 after contracting Vibrio Vulnificus
He died surrounding by his children Josh Hewitt, 27, (left) and Kendall Smoes, 29, (right) and his fiancée Leah Venlet-Delano
He contracted the disease after falling into a canal while working on his friend’s damaged boat in Naples, Florida, following Hurricane Ian. He went down to Florida
The family said they were ‘extremely shocked’ by his death because non-locals had not been warned about the deadly bacteria.
‘We were very angry that nobody knew about this at least from up here, you know, in Michigan. It’s a problem now, this is out there and it has been out there and the locals know about it but the people that go down to help don’t,’ his fiancée Leah Venlet-Delano told the Detroit News.
Florida as had 65 cases of the bacteria this year, according to CBS Miami.
His family said he was the type of person to always offer his help when he could and after seeing the damage the Category 4 storm caused, he rushed down there on October 5.
‘He jumped at this opportunity because he had seen, like the rest of us just how devastating the hurricane was,’ Leah told the Detroit News. ‘Jim is always the kind of person that would, you know, give the clothes off his back.’
The scrap on his leg became infected, causing the bacteria to enter his bloodstream, which led to sepsis, organ failure, and low blood pressure
He was later put on a ventilator and was sedated before his family arrived to the hospital
His family is now trying to raise awareness as they claimed those who flocked to Florida to help were unaware of the flesh-eating disease lurking in the warm saltwater and they want to prevent other deaths. So far this year, 65 people have contracted
He was helping an old friend pack up his damaged house on October 8 when he fell and after applying antibacterial ointment, he let it slip his mind.
The next morning, he woke up to his leg being ‘extremely painful and swollen’ and asked his friend to take him to the hospital.
They immediately began treatment with the appropriate antibiotics but he was not responding as quickly as we had hoped,’ Kendall wrote on the GoFundMe.
‘He continued to worsen and decline in the emergency department and was admitted to the ICU with sepsis, where he ended up on a total of 5 vasopressors to try to support his heart and blood pressure.’
On Sunday, hospital staff decided to put James on a ventilator and sedate him.
Prior to the sedation, Kendall said she spoke with her father and told him: ‘Dad I need you to fight with everything in your being and I am coming and I will be there as soon as I can.’
‘I cried in fear while saying this to him not knowing if I would make it in time. The last thing he said to me was that he loved me too,’ she said on the fundraiser, which has raised more than $6,500.
Kendall arrived to the hospital on Monday, while Josh Hewitt, 27, and Leah arrived Tuesday and James died on Tuesday evening.
‘I know my Dad had a big heart filled with love for so many friends and family,’ Kendall wrote.
‘He was so full of life and love and we’ve really, we really lost someone very special,’ Leah told the Detroit News.
His family started arriving on Monday and Tuesday and he died on Tuesday evening
The family is now trying to raise aware of the disease, so others don’t meet the same situation as James.
‘The people that want to help are usually coming from areas that they’re not familiar with… the dangers that are down there and I think that message should be shared,’ his fiancée told the local outlet.
‘They’re not necessarily part of an organized volunteer group that may receive that kind of information,’ she said. ‘If you have an existing condition, or even if you’re perfectly healthy and have any open cuts, don’t go into that water. You don’t know what’s in it.’
James was the second Michiganian to die from Hurricane Ian and more than 100 others have also lost their lives due to the cataphoric storm.
What is Vibrio vulnificus?
Vibrio vulnificus, also known as V. vulnificus, is a species of bacteria found in salty water.
It can enter the body when when open cuts, wounds and scratches are exposed to seawater.
It can also be passed on when cuts come into contact with raw or undercooked seafood, or if it is eaten.
You cannot be infected from another person.
It can cause severe illness or death.
If it enters the bloodstream, it can cause sepsis — the body’s most extreme response to an infection.
Symptoms include fever, chills, skin lesions, and decreased blood pressure causing septic shock. It can also lead to organ failure and sometimes death.
V. vulnificus is known as a flesh-eating bacteria because it can lead to necrotizing fasciitis, where the flesh surrounding a wound dies.
Roughly 1 in 5 people with the infection die, sometimes within a day or two of becoming ill, and others will need intensive care or limb amputations.
Anyone can get the infection, but it can be worse for people with weakened immune systems — particularly those with chronic liver disease or who take medicine that reduces the body’s ability to fight off germs.
The bacteria occurs naturally in warm salty water, and so the flooding from Hurricane Ian has caused a spike in infections.
Sewage spills in coastal waters as a result of the hurricane also promote growth of the bacteria, meaning there is an increased risk of V. vulnificus infections.
Warmer waters as a result of climate change are also thought to be a factor.
The deadly infections are caused by the V. vulnificus bacterium, referred to as a flesh-eating bacteria as skin infections can lead to necrotizing fasciitis, where the flesh surrounding a wound dies
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