A man from Alabama contracts a flesh disease after kayaking on the Tennessee River, says his wife

FLORENCE, Ala. –

A man from Alabama was recently infected with a flesh-eating bacteria during an outing on the Tennessee River, his wife said.

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According to WAFF-TV, Ricky Rutherford, 41, of Waterloo, is still in intensive care in a hospital in Florence after doctors diagnosed him with necrotizing fasciitis last week, according to his wife, Cbadey.

Rutherford's symptoms, including redness, swelling, leg cramps and a 105-degree temperature, began Monday, two days after the two men kayaked and swam with their children and friends.

"We landed at Second Creek and went back to High Banks, where there is a hole for swimming," Cbadey Rutherford told the station.

After several visits to the hospital, doctors withdrew part of the inside of Rutherford's thigh on Friday and confirmed that he was suffering from the flesh disease, WAFF reported.

Although Rutherford's health condition over the weekend was disastrous, the doctors said he was improving and that he could be released next week, did know WAAY-TV.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, necrotizing fasciitis is a life-threatening infection that "spreads rapidly in the body," usually after entering the system of someone through an open wound.

Rutherford did not appear to have had a cut or scratch during the kayak outing, but doctors said the bacteria could enter the body through a "microscopic hole," Cbadey Rutherford told WAFF.

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