A Tampa man is fighting to recover after contracting a rare flesh-eating bacterial infection during a New Year’s trip to the Bahamas, leaving him hospitalized in South Florida with organ failure and facing months of rehabilitation, according to his family and a GoFundMe campaign created to help cover mounting medical expenses.
As of early February, Brian Roush, 62, was receiving treatment at Broward Health in Fort Lauderdale after becoming critically ill shortly after returning from vacation, his daughter Brittany Roush told Tampa television station WFLA. A GoFundMe page created by his daughter said he went into severe septic shock, was intubated and placed on a ventilator within hours of arriving back in Florida, where doctors suspected necrotizing fasciitis, commonly known as flesh-eating bacteria.
According to the GoFundMe page, Brian Roush scraped his ankle during the trip but continued enjoying typical vacation activities, including swimming with pigs and visiting waterslides, before suddenly becoming violently ill on the way home Jan. 3. Doctors rushed him into emergency surgery to remove infected tissue, a decision his family said ultimately saved his life.
Multiple organ failure and life-saving surgeries
Over the following days, sepsis caused Brian Roush’s liver, kidneys and lungs to fail while he remained in an induced coma on life support, according to the GoFundMe page. Surgeons later removed most of the flesh from his ankle to his lower calf after it became gangrenous, then performed a muscle flap and skin graft using a muscle from his back and skin from his thigh.
“He has a little bit of heart damage, and he has a number of secondary infections from just being in the hospital for a long time,” Brittany Roush told WFLA. “He can’t walk, and he can’t use most of his limbs right now.”
Doctors initially gave him a survival chance of 10% or less, according to both WFLA and the GoFundMe campaign.
“They gave him such a low, low chance of survival, and everything had to go right for him to get there,” Brittany Roush told the station.
The GoFundMe page said that after a week of antibiotics and life support, Brian Roush began clearing the infection and some organs started recovering, though his kidneys remained in failure and as of early February he continued to receive daily dialysis.
Long road to recovery ahead
Family members said Brian Roush now faces a long rehabilitation process as he recovers from severe ICU myopathy that has left him weak and bedridden. Brittany Roush told WFLA that the family hopes to transfer him to a rehabilitation facility in Spring Hill, just north of Tampa, where he could spend three to six months relearning how to walk and use his limbs.
Despite the ordeal, the GoFundMe described Brian Roush as maintaining a positive outlook, “cracking jokes” and praising hospital staff as he begins the slow recovery process.
The fundraising page also detailed the emotional and financial strain on the family, including travel costs for relatives coming from Maryland and Germany to support him and ongoing care for his pets. According to the GoFundMe page, Brian Roush will be unable to work for at least three months, and while he has health insurance and disability coverage, expenses continue to grow.
“Brian is seeking financial support from his community, friends, and family to ease the burden and help him get back on his feet,” the GoFundMe page states.
