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William Bennett died after visiting his daughter Cheryl Bennett Wiygul in Florida last week. They swam in a number of different bodies of water, including a beach in Destin, then at Turkey Creek and at a swamp in Boggy Bayou.
Cheryl had heard reports of people becoming infected by the flesh-eating bacteria in the state and ensured her father took extra precautions, as he had previously suffered from cancer and could have a compromised immune system.
"My Dad didn't have any open wounds. He had a couple places that were practically healed, small scratches on his arms and legs that I made sure were super sealed up," she wrote on Facebook.
Within 12 hours, Bennett began to experience fever, chills and cramping. He went to a hospital back in Memphis where they noticed a "terribly swollen black spot" on his back.
His wife told everyone in the hospital that he had been in Florida and that it could be necrotizing fasciitis, but this was dismissed and staff reportedly would not carry out a biopsy. The black spot doubled in size and a new one appeared, along with red bumps on his arms. Bennett's condition seriously deteriorated and he became septic, and soon 'coded' twice before dying.
The lab results revealed he had vibrio vulnificus, which manifests into necrotizing fasciitis and causes sepsis. The Centers for Disease Control says that vibrio causes an estimated 100 deaths in the US every year.
A Florida woman died in June after developing necrotizing fasciitis, after she cut her shin while walking along the coast of Anna Maria Island.
Comment: Whilst this man appears to have been vulnerable, outbreaks of all kinds appear to be on the rise all over the planet: