Carol Martin was on vacation in Florida with her family. She had no way of knowing she would contract a bacterial infection that would eventually claim her life.
An Indianapolis woman has died after she contracted a flesh-eating bacteria. It is believed that the infection began during an annual family vacation to Florida. The family traveled to Florida to watch the races and stayed at a hotel while there. According to recent reports from Fox News, Richard Martin, Carol’s husband believes that his wife contracted the flesh-eating bacterial infection from the hot tub at the hotel.
“My thing is, nobody else got it, the flesh-eating bacteria. She was the only one that got in the hot tub.”
Upon returning home from their vacation, Carol Martin noticed that she had a pimple like sore on her right butt cheek. The following week, she had a nickel sized sore that no longer resembled a pimple. The sore was painful and she went to St. Francis Hospital to get it checked out. During that first visit, the doctor gave Martin antibiotics and a heating pad, sending her home.
When the sore got worse, Carol Martin went back to seek further medical intervention at the hospital. Carol’s husband reports that they sent her home again. In fact, it took three visits to the hospital before the doctors were able to diagnose Carol.
The infection got so bad that the physicians decided a biopsy was necessary. When the results came back, it was determined that Carol had contracted a rare, yet very serious, bacterial infection of the skin known as necrotizing fasciitis. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), less than 1,200 people within the United States contract this flesh-eating bacteria each year.
Necrotizing fasciitis is from group A strep bacteria and is easily treated when diagnosed early. Unfortunately, this type of infection spreads quickly, infecting the connective tissue that surrounds the “muscles, nerves, fat, and blood vessels.” If the toxins created by this bacterial infection destroys the infected tissue, it will die. Those infected with these toxins can lose body parts or even die.
Once the doctors realized what they were dealing with, they rushed Carol Martin to surgery. Carol underwent two surgeries and spent more than two weeks in the Intensive Care Unit before they discharged her. Carol’s husband stated that she made him lunch, kissed him goodbye, and by the time he returned home from work she had already passed away.
An autopsy was completed after Martin’s death. The Marion County coroner has taken tissue samples from her body for analyzation of the infection in an effort to determine if the bacteria was the cause of her death.
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