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A Florida mother of three is warning other beachgoers after nearly losing her life to a deadly flesh-eating bacterial infection that ravaged her leg and left her and her family traumatized.
On July 27, Genevieve Gallagher, 49, of Pensacola, went boating with her husband, Dana, and their 7‑year‑old daughter, Mila. Gallagher had a small cut on her left leg, protected by a waterproof bandage. Though she rinsed the wound in fresh water when she returned home, she thought little of it for the first couple of days.
By Wednesday of that week, while working as a coordinator at a physician's practice in a hospital, Gallagher noticed her leg had become swollen, hot to the touch, and was starting to turn dark.
"I ran to the bathroom, and I had an ankle bracelet on,” Gallagher told Good Morning America. “The ankle bracelet was actually embedded in my leg, like I couldn't even see it.”
Gallagher used a doctor's shears to cut the bracelet, but said it became so bad that fluid‑filled bubbles appeared over much of her lower leg.
At a hospital emergency room, doctors diagnosed Gallagher with a vibrio infection, a bacterial pathogen often found in warm, coastal waters that has already claimed the lives of five people in Florida this year.
Vibrio vulnificus is a rare but potentially dangerous bacterium found in brackish seawater and raw shellfish, especially oysters. It can infect people through open wounds or ingestion. While healthy individuals typically experience mild symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, and fever, those with weakened immune systems risk severe complications such as septic shock, skin lesions, amputations, or even flesh-eating infections.
Gallagher’s infection rapidly progressed. By July 30, her organs began failing, and she was entering septic shock.
She spent nearly a week undergoing intensive treatment.
"They took off all of the skin from about my knee down, a lot of the muscle, things like that," Gallagher said, adding she was transferred to another hospital for more surgery and treatment.
Gallagher remains hospitalized as she recovers from a muscle graft surgery and complications, but is grateful to the doctors for keeping her alive.
"They did an excellent job saving my life. I could have lost my life. Never mind my leg – my life," she told GMA. "I am forever grateful to the physicians there."
Gallagher emphasized that while she is not scared of the beach after this ordeal, she does want others to be aware of risks in the water.
"I wouldn't want to wish this on my worst enemy. So I just want people to know, please, do not go in there if you've just shaved your legs. Do not go in there if you have a little cut on your finger," Gallagher said. "Your life is not worth it. Losing your leg or being in pain like this and away from your family is not worth it."
