Just southwest of New Orleans, in a tranquil fishing village on the Louisiana bayou, Linard Lyons spent the morning on his 19-foot boat, preparing crab traps for his grandchildren just like he had done thousands of times before.

This time, he noticed a tiny scratch on his leg – a scratch that nearly cost him his life .

Lyons went about his day but woke up the following morning feeling “delusional.” Feverish and vomiting, he initially thought he had just contracted a stomach bug, but then discovered a series of blackening sores spreading across his left leg.

In what turned out to be a life-saving move, he went straight to his family doctor.

Lyons tells CNN his doctor immediately knew “exactly what it was” and sent him straight to the emergency room. In the “matter of maybe an hour,” L

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