MRSA Survivor Shares His Experience

Wednesday, November 7th 2007, 6:30 pm

By: News On 6

While we've heard a lot about MRSA spreading, we havenâ€™t heard much from people who have had it. The infection has one young man encouraging others to wash up to stay healthy. The News On 6â€™s Emory Bryan reports the young man spent months dealing with the misery of MRSA. He is over the infection now, but he says it knocked him off his feet for several months.

Eighteen-year-old Nik Davis is a survivor of three cases of MRSA. He says he first contracted the infection last October.

â€œVery, very painful, I was bedridden, it was on my leg and it hurt to walk. And, I didn't do anything. Just sat around and watched TV,â€ said former MRSA patient Nik Davis.

Davis had recurring infections over four months, and the pain forced him to miss a month of his senior year at Bixby High School.

He's fine now, but doesn't know if he's more likely to have a recurrence.

"I hope I don't get it again, it wasn't a pleasant experience,â€ said former MRSA patient Nik Davis.

Davis says, at first, he and his doctor thought the wound on his leg was a spider bite. He had one of those before, but within just a few days, he says it developed into a much worse looking wound. And then, several more sores cropped up.

"It was just really red, kind of looks like a big bruise and sometimes it was an open wound,â€ said former MRSA patient Nik Davis.

Now, he's diligent about watching for it, preaching about hand washing and happy to be back on his feet, and back to normal.

"Just make sure to wash your hands and be clean. And, if you notice something that's not normal, it's better to get it checked out. Better safe than sorry,â€ said former MRSA patient Nik Davis.

Davis says his infections would start and last several weeks and seemed to get better for a couple of weeks before another batch would pop up. He's telling his story to help make people aware that it is something that can be dealt with, but something to also take very seriously.

Watch the video: MRSA: A Survivor's Story

To learn more about MRSA, including symptoms, treatment and prevention, visit the MRSA section of kotv.com.