Teen in Florida Suffers Painful Parasitic Infection Linked to Contaminated Sand
Seventeen-year-old Michael Dumas never imagined that a sunny day on the beach would change his life for months to come. What began as a fun afternoon with friends on a missionary trip to Florida soon spiraled into a painful medical ordeal that shocked both his family and doctors. In mid-June, Michael joined 17 boys from his church youth group on a mission trip to Pompano Beach, Florida. The group spent their free day enjoying the ocean — swimming, building sandcastles, and even burying one another in the soft, warm sand. It was a classic summer scene filled with laughter and sunshine. But hidden beneath that sand was an invisible danger: hookworm larvae — microscopic parasites capable of penetrating human skin. After returning home to Memphis, Tennessee, Michael initially complained of what seemed like a simple…
Seventeen-year-old Michael Dumas never imagined that a sunny day on the beach would change his life for months to come. What began as a fun afternoon with friends on a missionary trip to Florida soon spiraled into a painful medical ordeal that shocked both his family and doctors. In mid-June, Michael joined 17 boys from his church youth group on a mission trip to Pompano Beach, Florida. The group spent their free day enjoying the ocean — swimming, building sandcastles, and even burying one another in the soft, warm sand. It was a classic summer scene filled with laughter and sunshine. But hidden beneath that sand was an invisible danger: hookworm larvae — microscopic parasites capable of penetrating human skin. After returning home to Memphis, Tennessee, Michael initially complained of what seemed like a simple…
