A mother from Florida is warning swimmers about the potentially deadly waters in the Gulf of Mexico after a Lake County man died from flesh-eating bacteria over a week ago.
Karen Yeager says that her 26-year-old son Cason went swimming off the coast of Hernando County on June 14. He died two days later, but his doctor didn't sign the death certificate until a week later; Click Orlando reported.
Cason Yeager contracted Vibrio vulnificus after swimming about two miles south of Pine Island Beach. Vibrio vulnificus, a bacterium that lives in warm salt water, can be transmitted through contaminated seafood or an open wound exposed to seawater, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Carson was diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder 10 years ago, but his mother says he hadn't had any problems since and was healthy, according to Fox News.
It is unclear what role his auto-immune diseases played in his death, since he was allegedly healthy prior to the incident.
Karen is currently fundraising for her son's funeral expenses on GoFundMe.
She now wants the public to be aware of the dangerous bacterium because the state has yet to notify the public.
"I'm not telling anyone don't go into the water just do your due diligence and make sure that you're not going to harm yourself," she told WTSP.
