In July 2018, 17-year-old Michael Dumas went on a mission trip to Florida with a group of his friends. They spent two days at Pompano Beach, relaxing on the sand and swimming in the ocean.
Each beach trip lasted only about 20 minutes, but that was more than enough time for Michael to contract a heinous infection. He and his friends took turns playfully burying each other up to their necks in sand and snapping photos of the innocent beach ritual.
But after Michael returned home to Tennessee, the painful symptoms began. He had bad earaches and watched as strange bumps formed under the skin of his legs.
Doctors realized that while Michael was buried in the sands of Pompano Beach, hookworms were burying themselves into his feet and causing red, itchy, and infected sores on his body.
And it turned out, Michael wasn't the only one — six out of 17 people in his mission group were infected with the parasites that weekend.
Michael's mom, Kelli, tried to warn others on Facebook. "He was buried in the sand for fun and it has become our nightmare," she posted on Facebook, along with graphic images of Michael's oozing staph infection.
In the video, experts reveal you don't even have to be buried in the sand like Michael was to contract these harmful and disgusting hookworms.
