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Fellow surfers & friends who go in the ocean - please read my health scare from surfing in our pnw ocean...

On Sunday, after our usual weekend of surfing on the coast in Westport, I was driving back to Seattle & my foot started to become really red, swollen & so painful that in 3 hours, I was unable to walk on it... I got back to Seattle & talked to my boyfriend, who told me my symptoms sounded really off & I needed to go into the emergency room (I thought I somehow injured it - but was in denial!) I went into the Swedish Emergency room... Boy, am I glad I listened to Tim, because I had the tiniest cut on my left foot & was diagnosed with a very scary & rare bacterial infection called Vibrio-Vulnificus - that can be fatal & is no joke!!! Usually found in warm ocean waters, the entire team of Infectious disease doc's at Swedish had only ever seen one case here in the northwest. I was immediately treated & am still being treated. Luckily, I caught it early enough & listened to a very smart man. I want all my fellow friends & surfers to be cautious if you have any cuts/wounds on your body for this horrible infection to get in. My intent is not to scare you, but make you aware how serious this is & if you have these symptoms, not to mess around & go seek medical attention.