The family of Basil Kennedy, a lifelong sailor and beloved grandfather, is sharing his story after he died from a rare flesh-eating bacteria.
Kennedy, 77, of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, contracted Vibrio vulnificus, a dangerous bacterium that thrives in warm saltwater and brackish water.
The infection began when he scratched his leg on his boat trailer while preparing to launch into the water near his home.
He cleaned the wound with hydrogen peroxide and covered it with a bandage, but within three days, his condition deteriorated rapidly.
His daughter, Kay Kennedy Regimbal, told The Advocate that her father began vomiting, developed a fever, and showed signs of septic shock.
At the hospital, doctors discovered he was infected with Vibrio and performed two surgeries to remove dead tissue. Despite their efforts, Kennedy died on July 21 from organ failure.
“He was happy. He was resilient. He had a servant’s heart,” his daughter Rebekah Kennedy told Nola.com.
“Basil was one of these guys who liked to bring people together to enjoy each other’s company, and it was always just fun being around him. You knew you were going to have a good time,” close friend Corky Hadden recalled to WWLTV.
Vibrio vulnificus occurs naturally in coastal waters and is most common between May and October.
People typically contract it either from eating raw or undercooked shellfish — especially oysters — or when an open wound, tattoo, or piercing is exposed to contaminated water.
The bacteria can cause vibriosis, which ranges from mild stomach illness to severe wound infections.
In extreme cases, it leads to necrotizing fasciitis — the flesh-eating condition that destroys skin and muscle tissue — and potentially life-threatening sepsis. According to the CDC, about one in five infected people die, sometimes within days.
This year, the Gulf Coast has seen an uptick in cases. The Louisiana Department of Health has reported 17 infections, with four deaths.
Florida has recorded 16 cases and five deaths.
Across the Gulf Coast, Vibrio has already claimed at least 32 lives in 2024. Experts, including University of Florida professor Antarpreet Jutla, attribute the rise to climate change. “Warmer waters create more favorable conditions for Vibrio proliferation,” he told Newsweek.
And it’s not just the Gulf. The bacteria have spread farther north in recent years, with North Carolina reporting 59 infections and one death since January. As ocean temperatures warm, the season and range for Vibrio infections continue to expand.
Despite their loss, Kennedy’s daughters want to make one thing clear: they don’t want people to stop enjoying the water.
“There doesn’t need to be a fear of the water,” Kay said. “There needs to be an education and a knowledge of if you have a cut, if you potentially could have been exposed, if there is a risk, how to handle it and what to do.”
Rebekah echoed that sentiment to the Daily Mail: “While we are grieving the loss of our husband, dad, and grandfather, we do not want this to create fear of the water. Our family has always loved the Gulf Coast and the connection it brings to nature and each other. We are sharing our experience only in the hope that it might help someone else.”