Visalia, CA -- This story is a warning to parents. A teenager in California got infected with a flesh-eating bacteria from his football helmet.
When Camil Flores shared the image of her son's hand on Facebook he was already in recovery from a flesh-eating bacteria, but his wound was severe.
"This happened just from a knick, from a helmet, from playing football," said Camil Flores, the mother of the teenager.
Flores says the infection started on the practice field last week at El Diamente High School. Her son is a freshman and didn't think much of the cut, but within hours she says he got sick and started vomiting. In the morning his finger was swollen.
"His finger was ten times the size of his other fingers," said Flores.
The boy was taken to urgent care and finally to Valley Children's Hospital where he was taken into surgery.
"When the surgeon came in, she could not believe how severe his finger was. It was discolored. He couldn't feel it. The swelling increased and the antibiotics were just not working," said Flores.
Doctors say it was Necrotizing Fasciitis, caused by a Strep-A infection and it could have led to amputation or even death.
Suzie Skadan is the Director of Health Services at Visalia Unified. She said the district was notified by Flores. Letters were sent home to parents about it and football gear at all the high schools were wiped clean on Monday.
"It's unfortunate that it happened to this child but we wanted to make sure that what we did, also for the safety of all of our athletes, that we took the necessary measures," said Suzie Skadan.
As for Flores' son, his hand was saved during surgery. The infection was cleaned out but there was a lot of damage.
It is his dominant hand. Flores isn't sure if he'll be able to regain mobility. She's hoping parents will see this story and hear her message to disinfect equipment and keep an eye on any injury, no matter how small it seems at first.
