Jeanette LeBlanc, 55, was left fighting for her life within 48 hours of eating the seafood snack, which she bought from a marketplace in Texas, US.

LeBlanc, who was visiting family and friends in Louisiana, was rushed to hospital after the sinister illness caused “severe wounds” to her legs.

Graphic photos show LeBlanc lying in a hospital bed as the sickness ravaged her legs, turning her skin a putrid black.

Initially, her friend Karen Bowers, who also ate the oysters, said she mistook her illness for an allergic reaction.

But when her symptoms worsened, LeBlanc was submitted to hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with Vibriosis.

Vibriosis is a bacterial infection that can induce severe illness and in some cases death if left untreated.

For three weeks, LeBlanc desperately battled the illness, but died in hospital on October 15, 2017.

Now her partner, Vicki Bergquist, is seeking to spread awareness of the deadly illness to prevent more deaths.

“If we had known that the risk was so high, I think she would've stopped eating oysters,” Bergquist said.

Vibriosis can be contracted through exposure to seawater and eating raw seafood.

Symptoms include diarrhoea, massive dehydration and vomiting.

The disease can result in the loss of up to three to four gallons of bodily water within 24 hours.

This loss of fluids, along with a drop in blood pressure, can cause patients to fall into comas and die of shock within 48 hours.

“I can't even imagine going through that for 21 days. Most people don't last,” Bowers said.


The only way to kill harmful bacteria in oysters is to cook them properly.