A Texas man has lost his right leg after contracting flesh-eating bacteria during a trip to the beach.

According to KRIV, Brian Parrott, 50, of Jacinto City started to feel sick after he went swimming with his family at a Galveston beach June 12. The following Wednesday, his right leg was red and covered in boils.

Doctors amputated the leg from the knee down at Houston's Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, where Parrott remains in intensive care.

Parrott's mother, Donna Dailey, told KRIV that doctors believe the bacteria entered his system through a scratch on his foot. Parrott also suffers from diabetes, which takes a toll on the immune system, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Dailey said the family wants to share Parrott's story "to get the word out" about the bacteria.

"There's nothing more that we can do for my son, but maybe we can save somebody else," she told KRIV.According to the Chronicle, Parrott's family has started a GoFundMe campaign.