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StaphAseptic™ News
Student recalls his close call with staph
June 1, 2009
By JOE SIMON
Another day or so and Youngstown State University wide receiver Ferlando Williams could have lost a limb.
Last fall, the senior wide receiver noticed a pimple-like bump on his left elbow. He said he figured it was a bug bite of some type. It really didn't hurt that much, and it certainly wasn't about to keep the team's leading receiver out of a key road game for the Penguins.
So he played Nov. 1 at Illinois State, and it nearly became the last football game of his life.
The red bump on his arm was actually the early sign of a staph infection, a bacteria that has received attention in recent years and that can be deadly if not treated. It became aggravated when Williams fell on the infected elbow during the game and broke it open.
''It wasn't hurting at all,'' he said. ''It just felt like a little bruise on my elbow. When I landed on it and it burst, that was the worst feeling. I couldn't get back on the field for nothing.
''That Saturday night and then Sunday night, I couldn't sleep for nothing,'' he said. ''I'd just sit in the tub and that's the only way my arm wouldn't hurt. It was painful, very painful.''
Williams recently thought back to the infection, describing the way it looked at first and how quickly its severity changed.
''It started off like a little pimple almost,'' he said. ''I thought it was like a little spider bite or something and it would go away. Two days passed by, I think it was Thursday I told J.D. (YSU trainer John Doneyko) about it, and he said we'll check with the doctors on Saturday. And on Saturday my elbow swelled a little bit, but it wasn't much. Then I landed on it the wrong way, and it had a little head on it - like a pimple head - and it burst. Once that burst, I guess it got infected by the field or something.''
Williams said he showed his arm to Doneyko that Monday. The infection had caused his arm to swell to the size of a softball, and if Williams had waited any longer, doctors told him the staph could have entered his blood stream, and an amputation might have been needed.
''My whole left arm looked like an elephant trunk. I would shake my arm and I could feel like every molecule in my arm jiggle. If it would have gotten into my blood stream, it would have been a major problem.''
The doctors said Willams had 24 to 32 hours before he would have lost his arm. Once staph enters the blood, it attacks tissues and white-blood cells, according to Dr. Anthony Cutrona, the chief infectious disease doctor at St. Elizabeth Health Center. Cutrona didn't work with Williams in this instance.
Doneyko is the person YSU athletes inform when staph, or any other injury or infection occurs. He said staph has been more prevalent this past season than any other in his 23 years at the university.
''In football, this is probably the most at one time that we've had,'' he said. ''In basketball, about five or six years ago, we had five guys at the same time with it. Those guys are in a small, confined area, they're traveling on the bus all the time and they're all friends and roommates and teammates. So they're together all the time. It was really hard to break that cycle. It took almost the entire season to get everybody free.''
Doneyko said changes have been made to the way the university works to fight infections like staph. Some of those changes include elimination of bar soap, installing hand sanitizers, increasing training and even changing the progression of players through the training facilities. Now the university ensures players shower, for example, before heading in for team meetings or film-study.
Doneyko's experience and knowledge of the infection aided him in his dealings with Williams. Doneyko immediately had Williams taken to the hospital where the staph was eventually cleared.
''They took great care of me, J.D. and (team physician) Dr. (Michael) Miladore,'' Williams said. ''They did a wonderful job on me.''
While the situation ended with Williams in good health, it was a time he'll never forget.
"It was just a stale moment in my life. It was like my mind was blank. I just thought, 'Oh man, this is really bad.' It was freakish,'' he said. ''It was very humbling, being in a hospital bed thinking of everything - everything went through my head. It's just very humbling to have another day of this. I thank God for it."
http://www.tribtoday.com
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