Ted A.

I am a law enforcement officer that caught MRSA from an inmate in the hospital. (Sepsis and MRSA) I was assigned to guard him from escaping, which required me to be hands on with him (i.e. loosening and changing restraints and escorting to the bathroom.) The inmate was a nice guy and very cooperative. While changing leg restraints with gloves on, I inadvertently was scratched on the upper arm by the metal. I didn’t think too much about it and cleaned it out and put alcohol on the wound.

I was then off for 2 days and upon my return was assigned to the same inmate. Upon arrival I was advised that the inmate had a bad case of MRSA and has had it for days! I was shocked because no one informed me, as is procedure for extra PPE! Later in the same 12 hour shift, I noticed my under arm was bothering me about 3 inches from scratch. Upon waking the next day found a full blown infection in my arm. Interestingly enough this was my last week before retiring and moving to the mountains. I ended staying 5 days in the hospital and officially retired after 30 years upon my release.

Fast forward to today. I had a full time job lined up as a letter carrier with the post office and could not take it because of MRSA! Since my retirement I have been hospitalized 15 times for extreme nausea and throwing up, with no identifiable cause. I have also lost 100 lbs from being sick. Now to be fair I was a really really small smidge above my ideal weight of 220 pounds when I was 310 pounds! 😀