Bulletin Board
By Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com
Bob Havrilak, 55, says he has been hospitalized and near death six times because of staph infections. When he moved here last fall from Minnesota, he said he realized "I'm in an incubator where bacteria flourishes. It's a wonderful place. Everything grows here - including bugs."
His battle against the bacteria began at age 18 when he broke his nose boxing and it became infected. At age 35 he nearly lost his leg to an infection, which flared up again after six months. His last near-death bout with antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was two years ago, he said.
"I was playing golf and walking in the woods, where my golf balls tend to go, and scraped my shin in my right leg," he recalled. "Three days later I was on a trip, and suddenly I couldn't get out of bed. ... I thought it was the flu."
haltonn@starbulletin.com
Bob Havrilak, 55, says he has been hospitalized and near death six times because of staph infections. When he moved here last fall from Minnesota, he said he realized "I'm in an incubator where bacteria flourishes. It's a wonderful place. Everything grows here - including bugs."
His battle against the bacteria began at age 18 when he broke his nose boxing and it became infected. At age 35 he nearly lost his leg to an infection, which flared up again after six months. His last near-death bout with antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was two years ago, he said.
"I was playing golf and walking in the woods, where my golf balls tend to go, and scraped my shin in my right leg," he recalled. "Three days later I was on a trip, and suddenly I couldn't get out of bed. ... I thought it was the flu."