He was fishing on a seawall when water splashed — now he awaits a prosthetic leg

A well-known Bay St. Louis mechanic has contracted the state’s first confirmed case of vibrio vulnificus.

Ronald Winnert, who is know as “Griz,” contacted the bacteria on Friday, June 10 his daughter, Brandy Miller, confirmed.

“Dad was fishing in Bay St. Louis, which is something he loved to do,” Miller said. “He didn’t even go in the water — he was wearing pants and some water splashed on his leg, and he did have a cut on his leg, but the cut was covered.”

She said her dad has a compromised immune system from diabetes. Within a matter of hours, he became “deathly ill.”

“He was fishing around 4 a.m. and when my brother found him around 8 a.m., he was already feverish and very sick,” Miller said.

Winnert was taken to Hancock Medical Center but was later transported to Slidell Memorial Hospital. By Saturday night, Miller said, the bacteria infection in his leg could not be contained and his right leg was amputated.

“He was in a coma for eight days and he had congestive heart failure, kidney failure and pneumonia,” she said. “He spent a total of 16 days in ICU.”

Miller said her father is undergoing rehab in Slidell and he should be getting released next week.

“He had no idea something was wrong with his leg, so it was tough having to tell him that it had been amputated.” she said. “But his spirits are good and he said he’s going to get a prosthetic leg.”

Winnert moved to Bay St. Louis about 30 years ago. Miller said he was a popular mechanic who played Santa Claus for the local fire department and other organizations.

“He will never be able to fish in saltwater again,” she said. “But we are just lucky he’s alive.”

Although Winnert is the first confirmed case of the bacteria, Miller said she believes there will be others.

“This is a flesh-eating bacteria, I don’t care what people are saying — it ate away the flesh of my father’s leg,” she said. “It seems that since the BP oil spill there have been more cases of vibrio and I’m sure we will see some more because my father wasn’t even in the water when he contacted it and it almost killed him.”

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 9:37 AM with the headline "He was fishing on a seawall when water splashed — now he awaits a prosthetic leg."