OTTAWA, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A Canadian umpire died of a flesh eating disease after being hit by a foul ball in early July, his wife says.
Umpire Bob Brousseau was struck in the thigh by a foul on July 6, but shook it off and umpired the rest of the game, the Ottawa Citizen reported.
Brousseau's wife, Pat Longmore, said over the next few days, the massive bruise on her husband's thigh got worse.
"It just started getting bigger and darker," said Longmore. "And I said, 'You know, you should go and see about it.' And he said, 'No, it's just a bruise. It will go away.'"
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On July 9, Brousseau did go to the hospital, but was told he had a type of hernia and was sent home. Two days later, Brousseau fell out of bed.
Initially, paramedics thought he had a stroke, but the later diagnosis showed Brousseau had necrotizing fasciitis, or a flesh-eating disease.
Doctors operated on Brousseau twice to remove diseased tissue, but were unable to stop it from spreading. They then went back and amputated the man's whole right leg, his left foot and two fingers on one hand and one on the other.
About a week after Brousseau fell out of bed, doctors said there was some hope. However a week after that Brousseau's family was told the disease had spread to his pelvis and there was nothing to be done.
"He was gone less than 12 hours later," said Longmore. "The doctors say they don't know what causes it, why some people and why at this time, when he's had bruises all over the place before."
