BRIDGE CITY, Texas — After spending more than a month in the hospital due to a flesh-eating bacteria, a Bridge City man is finally returning home.
Carlton Abney is recovering from having his leg amputated after he was exposed to Vibrio Vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacteria. While his family is happy to have him back at home, there is still a long road to recovery ahead of him.
(Editor's note: The above video is from a September 28, 2022 newscast.)
"After 42 days, we are coming home today," Abney's family told 12News. "We still have a long recovery."
The family is hosting a benefit to raise money to cover medical costs on November 12, 2022 at 9 a.m. at the Crawfish Hole in Bridge City. Britt Godwin, an area musician, will play and there will be a washer tournament, and auction and jambalaya dinners.
Abney was on a boat on Cow Bayou with his family in September when he was exposed to Vibrio Vulnificus. The Bridge City man had gotten into water that was only up to his knees, and as far as his family knew, did not have any cuts.
Still, the flesh-eating bacteria took its toll.
Carlton Abney's son, Colton Abney, said the bacteria started to shut his father's body down within hours.
"It was within four hours,” Colton Abney previously told 12News. “It started turning black. It was just eating the skin away. I mean, it was the craziest thing."
Colton Abney stated it took doctors two days to realize what was wrong.
"He told us he had two hours to live, and we had to amputate the leg at the knee,” Colton Abney said. “And that was a 50/50 chance.”
To save Carlton Abney's life, doctors amputated one of his legs.
This type of bacteria is not new to the Lone Star State, according to Dr. Ashwini Kucknoor who is a biology professor at Lamar University.
"It is very common in the Gulf of Mexico because of the warm temperatures, because of the warmer water temperature,” Dr. Ashwini Kucknoor said. “And it is very common."
According to the Texas Department of State Health, across the state, an average of 33 people are infected annually. Because it is not a common occurrence, the bacteria is not monitored.
Dr. Kucknoor wants to change that. She leads the Texas Beach Watch program and tracks bacteria in nearby bodies of water.
The Lamar University professor recently applied for new grant funding to add Vibrio testing to the list of bacteria they test for on Jefferson County beaches.
Doctors from Houston Methodist are rushing to make a vaccine but believe that it is going to take some time. They are hoping to develop a Vibrio vaccine by 2030.
Not much is known about the vaccine, including if it will be available to everyone or just those who may have been exposed.
