CORONADO (KGTV) - An Arizona man is recovering from a bacterial infection he says he got from swimming in the ocean off the coast of San Diego.
Travis Moncur had part of his forearm removed last week after doctors discovered he had gram positive cocci.
The Arizona based event coordinator says he went swimming Sunday near the Hotel Del Coronado and by Wednesday he was in an emergency room.
RELATED: Tijuana steps up efforts to keep sewage out of U.S.
“For the first 24 hours they didn’t know what it was because it was acting like a bug bite,” said Moncur.
Travis says he had a fever, was nauseous and the area where he had a small cut was painfully sensitive to the touch.
“It was pretty dire,” said Moncur, “they said had I not gotten on top of it right away it would have got into my blood system and I could have gotten an infection in my brain.”
Moncur says doctors told him the variety of coliform bacterial infection they believe he is consistent with dirty water.
RELATED: Imperial Beach businesses hurt by sewage & runoff related closures
The San Diego County Health Department says there no advisories for any of the areas where Moncur was swimming and they recommend covering any cut before going in the water.
Moncur’s doctor will get back results to help them potentially determine the source, but he is still worried about the possibility of others getting what he has. “We were playing on the beach with people who had children” said Moncur, “I was able to catch it because I went to the ER right away.”
