Roger Pinckney: Man dies of vibriosis after eating ONE-IN-A-BILLION raw oyster at restaurant
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA: Roger “Rocky” Pinckney, 44, died from a bacterial infection a week after a father-daughter dinner at Rustic Inn Crabhouse in Fort Lauderdale where he ate raw oysters. Pinckney worked at the same family-run Rustic Inn Crabhouse in Fort Lauderdale two decades ago as a busboy. According to a medical report, Pinckney arrived at Memorial Pembroke Hospital on the evening of July 23, with sickness and abdominal pain. He had eaten oysters at the Rustic Inn Crabhouse in Fort Lauderdale two days before.
He tested positive for Vibrio vulnificus, a pathogenic bacteria found in marine environments, at the hospital. On July 31, he was declared dead after a week of emergency surgeries and a double amputation, Seattle Times reported. According to Gary Oreal, manager of the Rustic Inn, the South Florida man ate dinner there on a day when the Rustic Inn served up to 100 dozen oysters, and he was the only one who became ill. “He had that one in a billion that was bad,” Oreal said. “I feel horrible.” Medics later confirmed he had vibrio, a bacteria that can kill up to one-third of those infected if consumed raw or undercooked seafood.
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Investigators from the Florida Department of Health visited to look at the kitchen and investigate the oyster inventory the day after Pinckney became ill and was hospitalized, according to Oreal, whose father founded Rustic Inn in 1955. “We passed with flying colors and we were allowed to continue to sell oysters,” he told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
“Oysters are top of the mountain for dangerous foods to eat,” Oreal said. “I have eaten them my entire life, and will continue. But you are putting yourself at risk when you do it.” “Over the course of 60 years, we have served a couple of billion oysters and we never had anyone get sick as this guy did,” Oreal said. Celebrities such as LeBron James and Blac Chyna have visited the Rustic Inn in the past, eager to try its famous garlic crab.
Pinckney was the president of Davie-based 5 Diamond Construction Inc and the owner of Seminole Auto Salon and Rocky's Pest Services. Pinckney's daughter said that she and her father went to the Rustic Inn on July 21 to celebrate her high school graduation and his birthday, Seattle Times reported. “I called him on his birthday and he didn’t feel good,” his father said. “He didn’t want to go out. I said we could celebrate next week, and then he went to the hospital", she told the news outlet.
According to the Florida Department of Health website, there have been 26 cases in 2022 of people in Florida who have been infected. According to the Pensacola News Journal, a community leader named Rodney Jackson died from Vibrio on August 9. The oyster also had come from Louisiana and he ate the oyster at Maria’s Fresh Seafood Market. Dr Robert "Wes" Farr of the University of West Florida told the news outlet that Vibrio infections related to raw seafood and oysters are more common in the summer.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a Vibrio-infected oyster looks, smells, and tastes the same as any other oyster. “Vibrio vulnificus is a problem that we’ve had for years,” said Dr. Mary Jo Trepka, a professor of epidemiology at Florida International University. “It is a bacteria that occurs naturally in saltwater or brackish water.” “That’s why when you go to the restaurant, there’s often a little message on the menu saying raw, undercooked seafood can be dangerous,” she said. “It absolutely can be dangerous. I think people just forget about that.”
The CDC estimates that approximately 80,000 people in the United States contract vibriosis each year, with 100 people dying as a result. The majority of these illnesses occur from May to October when water temperatures are warmer.
Within the first 24 hours of ingesting the bacteria, patients typically experience watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, and vomiting, with the symptoms lasting three days. However, severe illness is ''rare,'' according to the CDC, unless someone has a weakened immune system. In mild cases, no treatment is required; however, antibiotics may be used in more severe cases.
One in every three people who contract the bacteria dies from the infection, and it is also responsible for 95 percent of fatalities in the United States. According to estimates, approximately 100 people die in the United States each year as a result of a bacterial infection.