Man's hand rots and amputated 12 hours after eating sushi

ruby orimba

August 29, 2018 12:13 PM

One blister on his hand grew to the size of a golf ball

A 71-year-old man had to have his hand amputated when his flesh started rotting because he ate sushi.

The man, from South Korea, became infected with a potentially deadly flesh-eating bacteria which caused painful black ulcers to grow across his skin 12 hours after indulging in the raw seafood.

The infection was so bad that he had to have his hand and forearm amputated 25 days later.

Blisters

Medics drained the blisters before deciding his limb could not be saved because the unnamed man’s skin had started rotting so badly.

The pensioner visited doctors in Jeonju, South Korea, after experiencing excruciating pain in his hand for two days.

Golf ball

His story, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, took a turn when a blister on the palm of his hand grew to 3.5cm by 4.5cm – approximately the size of a golf ball.

Others spread across the back of his hand and forearm. Doctors diagnosed him with an infection called vibriosis caused by the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria.

ruby orimba