Texas, father of six children who died after four days of fighting a flesh-eating bacteria

A father of six who caught a flesh-eating bacteria during a crab fishery in the Gulf of Mexico died after four days of fighting the infection.

Gary Evans, 56, has never left the boat because he, his wife and children fished crab at Magnolia Beach in southeastern Texas on July 4th.

They had heard dozens of reports of people contracted by flesh-eating bacteria after swimming or paddling in the warm, cool waters of the Gulf of Mexico, with an open cut.

But they thought they were safe. The only time Evans touched the water, is in some cases that his hat has disheveled his head, leaning to the side to pick it up.

Two days later, Evans could barely walk.

Gary Evans, 56, helped families after Hurricane Harvey and loved the crab. On July 4, he contracted a flesh-eating bacterium and died.

Evans' wife, Debbie Mattix, said she was still struggling to understand how this tragedy had occurred. He did not go into the water and did not have any obvious cuts

He went straight to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed him as Vibrio vulnificus, a bacterium that evolves into necrotizing fasciitis, a rapidly evolving and often deadly pathogen.

Doctors, aware of the risk of bacteria in the area, began treating Evans for necrotizing fasciitis even before it was confirmed, and rushed to try to contain the bacteria in the intensive care unit, by administering antibiotics.

But it was too widespread, too fast.

By the time he underwent surgery, the doctors told Evans' wife, Debbie Mattix, that he had only 72 hours left to live.

"They did everything they could," 60-year-old Mattix told his local Victoria Advocate newspaper in Victoria, Texas.

"He was very, very sick and that ended up hitting him. He spread to his liver, kidneys and he was on a respirator. He also entered his bloodstream and began to collapse in his veins.

Necrotizing fasciitis enters the body through cuts or burns, and very often in fresh water, an environment conducive to this type of bacteria. But

Evans died on Monday, July 8, and his funeral took place on Saturday.

"This bacteria is much worse than people really think," Mattix said. "It's not an easily contained bacterium; he enters with vengeance and he is implacable, he destroys all that is in his way.

Supporters remembered Evans as an "authentic" and "charming" man

On a GoFundMe page, created to help with funeral costs, supporters gathered, remembering Evans as being a "real man" and "adorable", who had helped so many people during the funeral. Hurricane Harvey, who had decimated the state. Evans "was going out with his chainsaw," Mattix recalled, helping families get safe and rebuild their lives.

Addressing KHOU, Mattix said she was still struggling to understand how this tragedy had occurred.

"His hat fell into the water several times, he picked it up and you just laugh, and he put it back on his head, is not it? Mattix told the network.

& # 39; Was it the doorway then? I do not know. Could it be when he took out the crab pots from the water and the breeze, some of the water then sprayed him? But to say that we floated in the water, no. We have never been in the water.