{"id":308621,"date":"2026-06-16T00:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T00:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/308621\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T00:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T00:57:09","slug":"teen-hospitalized-for-flesh-eating-bacteria-after-swimming-with-siblings-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/308621\/","title":{"rendered":"Teen Hospitalized for Flesh-Eating Bacteria After Swimming with Siblings in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n

A Florida teen has contracted a flesh-eating bacteria after swimming in coastal waters<\/p>\n

Joziah Thompson, 17, is hospitalized due to a severe Vibrio vulnificus infection<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I looked at his leg I said, \u2018Oh, we need to go now,\u2019\u201d his mother said<\/p>\n

A Florida mother is asking for help after her teenage son\u2019s day swimming with his siblings has turned into a \u201cmedical nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tirzah Thompson, the mother of 17-year-old Joziah Thompson, is speaking out after his swim in local waters left him hospitalized with a severe Vibrio vulnificus infection, often referred to as a flesh-eating bacteria, according to a GoFundMe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Joziah<\/p>\n

Joziah Thompson
Credit: gofundme<\/p>\n

The teen was at Lion\u2019s Park in Niceville when the infection occurred, Thompson told WALA<\/a>. It started with a scratch on his leg before sparking concern.<\/p>\n

PEOPLE reached out to the City of Niceville for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo days later and his entire leg was red, he was moaning and hot to the touch and in a lot of pain,\u201d Thompson told the news station. \u201cAs soon as I looked at his leg I said, \u2018Oh, we need to go now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Joziah \u201cis currently fighting for his life\u201d after coming into contact with the bacterium, which is typically found in warm, brackish coastal waters, according to the GoFundMe.<\/p>\n

Some species of Vibrio, including the one Joziah contracted, can cause severe and life-threatening infections, per the Centers for Disease Control<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The teen has already undergone multiple surgeries to remove infected tissue and is currently receiving treatment at Studer Family Children’s Hospital in Pensacola. His ongoing recovery includes \u201cwound care, a wound vac, ongoing monitoring, and additional medical procedures as doctors work to save his leg and protect his health.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlong the way, he has also experienced serious complications, including concerns involving his heart, episodes of rapid heart rate, fluid retention, and the physical and emotional toll that comes with battling such an aggressive infection,\u201d his mother added via the fundraising website.<\/p>\n

\"Joziah<\/p>\n

Joziah Thompson
Credit: gofundme<\/p>\n

She also said that as a spa owner, she has had to stop taking clients to care for Joziah during his hospitalization.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a whirlwind trying to make sure he\u2019s okay and it\u2019s been taxing for sure,\u201d Thompson told the news station.<\/p>\n

Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n

Thompson said she wants city leaders to help spread awareness about Vibrio vulnificus and its complications.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m pushing for a system [to be] put in place to know the bacteria levels in local waters. I don\u2019t want this to happen to any other children,\u201d she told WALA. \u201cMy son is 5-foot-11, 225 pounds. What if this was a 5-year-old who doesn\u2019t have the strength to fight something off like this?\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW A Florida teen has contracted a flesh-eating bacteria after swimming in coastal waters Joziah Thompson,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75447,128785,28,30,29,128782,128784,128783],"class_list":["post-308621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-coastal-waters","tag-flesh-eating-bacteria","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-joziah-thompson","tag-tirzah-thompson","tag-vibrio-vulnificus-infection"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}