Woman claiming ocean contamination in Hilo caused an infection that hospitalized her several times
A few days after swimming at Richardson Beach in Hilo
By Chloe Marklay
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HONOLULU, Hawaii (KITV) — A few days after swimming at Richardson Beach in Hilo, Nani, says she started shaking, had chills, and noticed a big red mark under her toe.
She says she got scraped up from rocks at the beach and one cut had become infected.
“It was so infected that it filled a whole cup with puss” shares Nani.
Nani suffered with a staph infection and MRSA. Her foot became so sore she couldn’t even stand.
She was in and out of the hospital for the next several months receiving medications and undergoing surgeries.
Now her foot is healed, but she says the mental recovery is just as difficult as the physical recovery. She hasn’t been back in the ocean since the infection in 2020. She fears the same thing happening again.
She says she’s not the only one who has become sick after swimming at Richardson Beach.
“They said we has MRSA too, staph infection, like yours it was on my finger, toe, heel, and we all share battle scars.”
Nani is urging leaders to test the water quality and put up signs if it’s not safe to swim.
“They should be keeping people safe, it’s a beautiful place to go, everybody wants to go down there and go swimming, I don’t want everyone to have the experience I have, I have terrible scars on my leg.”
A Hilo resident is involved in a group that is pushing leaders to prioritize water quality around Richardson Beach. She says more studies should be done to find why the water is causing people to suffer with illnesses.
She believes the issue stems from the Hilo Wastewater Treatment Plant and its needs for repairs.
“The county and our legislation needs to start prioritizing money that can help find the source of what’s making your water quality unhealthy for families” shares member, Keaukaha action network, Terri Nepeahi.
KITV4 reached out to the Hawaii Department of Health and the Hilo Wastewater Treatment Plant and have not heard a response back.
DOH says they will provide a comment on Thursday.
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