Florida Woman Dies of Flesh-Eating Bacteria, Family Says

Even with treatment, up to one in three people with necrotizing fasciitis die from the infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

A woman died of a flesh-eating bacteria two weeks after cutting her leg in the waters off Anna Maria Island in Florida, her family says.

Carolyn Fleming — who went by Lynn — of Ellenton, Florida, fell into a small dip in the water at the barrier island's Coquina Beach, near St. Petersburg, on Friday, June 14, NBC News reports. The fall left her with a cut on her left leg, according to her son and daughter-in-law, Wade and Traci Fleming, who were with her that day. 

Lynn Fleming exited the water on Friday with a three-quarter-inch cut and a bump on her shin, Traci Fleming said, but the severity of the wound dramatically escalated throughout that weekend. She showed no symptoms that Friday or the following morning. But by Saturday afternoon, she told them she was in pain. On Sunday, her leg was red and swollen and her friends forced her to go to an urgent care facility, where she received a tetanus shot and an antibiotic. A day later, her left shin was black.

On June 27, Lynn Fleming died after suffering two strokes and organ failure during surgeries to save her leg, Traci Fleming said. She was 77. NBC News has not confirmed flesh-eating bacteria as the official cause of death.

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