(KPRC-TV) Necrotizing fasciitis is the clinical term for the infection J.R. Atkins got while trying to rescue people from floodwaters after Hurricane Harvey. We’ve commonly heard that referred to as “flesh-eating bacteria,” and it is deadly.
Atkins caught the signs early enough to survive, but he warns others what to look for, since he knows many more Houstonians will come in contact with it during hurricane cleanup.
Atkins is a former firefighter and a medic. During the major flooding, he was in trying to save his neighbors in Missouri City by boating through his neighborhood. He did not anticipate he would be the one who needed saving.
“I knew what I was getting into which is the scary thing. I was fully aware that this could happen,” he said.
