Support Tony's Battle Against Rare Infection

My name is Patti Dyess, and I'd like to tell you about my son-in-law, Tony Matrau, who contracted a rare flesh-eating bacteria after being in the Gulf of Mexico water for about 15 minutes.

If you know Tony, you’ll understand he HATES the idea of a Go Fund Me… He's ALWAYS the first to help anyone and everyone – probably many of you reading this right now. He is both proud and humble at the same time, not wanting any recognition for what he does for others, but also never wanting to accept help from anyone.

On June 7th, Tony walked ankle deep into the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston, TX for about 15 minutes. Within 4 hours he was in a lot of pain and his ankle was swollen. Within 6 hours, his entire left leg was in excruciating pain, his fever was 103, and he was vomiting and incoherent. In 8 hours, he was on IV antibiotics in the Galveston ER. He was admitted to the hospital and all symptoms continued to worsen. After two days of lab cultures, we discovered the name of our enemy… An extremely rare bacteria called Vibrio vulnificus. V.V. infects only about 100-200 worldwide and comes from exposure to gulf water through either an open wound or eating uncooked fish. There’s a lot of information about it online, but the main thing is… it moves FAST, with people becoming septic, and skin becomes necrotic. It has a 45% mortality rate, and those that do survive usually lose a limb. Bacteria entered his body thru a small cut on his ankle.  He spent nearly 3 weeks at the UTMB hospital in Galveston, where he was lucky to be treated by infectious disease doctors in one of the few places in this country who see this disease, and even there, they only get 3-5 cases per year.

Tony was able to beat the V.V. infection, and so far, has also been able to keep his leg; however, it’s still very infected, with secondary infections now, because of the blistering wounds caused by V.V. Today (7/3/24) he was admitted to Baylor in downtown Dallas due to the ongoing infection and risk of sepsis. He has a long, difficult road ahead of him.

While Tony and Ashley do have medical insurance, the hospital stay in Galveston was out of network- and we all know what that means… They also have two kids at home, and one daughter on her own (but living close by) with two grandchildren, that all depend on them. They own a small family business, Hoosier RV Repairs, which they started six years ago. Tony has not been able to work AT ALL since he contracted V.V., and expenses have been very high. While the family stayed in Galveston for three weeks, it was very expensive – Airbnbs, hotels, parking, food, etc. It was important for Ashley and the kids to be close by, because things were definitely “touch and go” for a while there. Their business is suffering greatly… Without Tony at the helm, no new work is coming in.

Many people have asked me what they can do to help. The love and support of everyone is so very appreciated, but money is what is needed right now. They’ve been getting by on savings for the past month, and now that’s running out. With nothing new coming in, the situation is bleak.

Please consider helping us reach our goal of $15,000 for medical expenses and to keep the family afloat until Tony can work again, which will likely be several months. Just keeping insurance coverage is super expensive!!

Thanks so much for reading this and please keep Tony and the rest of our family in your prayers. I will give everyone updates as they become available. XOXOXO