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 lifesaving 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 a "matter of maybe an hour," Lyon

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