Erik Jones joins the ranks of the survivors! It’s always a relief to find a story like his.
“It started suddenly, with a pain in Erik Jones’ upper left leg as he was helping a friend move lumber in May 2012. Then came fever, chills and vomiting… He had necrotizing fasciitis, a bacterial infection that attacks connective tissue deep beneath the skin. This tissue, called the fascia, forms a continuous layer around the muscle, so bacteria can speed along it from one part of the body to another. The disease is rare — annually, there are 500 to 1,500 cases in the United States — but it is harrowing. Not only can it turn your skin black, or make it lumpy as bubble-wrap, if left untreated, it can also kill you.”