Woman shares how flesh-eating disease nearly killed her

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- What started out as a small wound on her lower back soon put Becca close to death.

She was getting a mammogram at the Texas Medical Center when she finally asked a nurse about the wound, which had grown and started to worry her.

"When I woke up that day for the mammogram, I was in my coffin. It just wasn't closed yet," Becca said.

After being told to go to the nearest emergency room, Becca says she learned her diagnosis: necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease that can take your life within 72 hours

Becca says many people assume she got the bacteria in the water, but she says she was working 12-hour days and hadn't even been to the beach. She thinks she somehow got the infection at her workplace.

Becca underwent surgery, and doctors removed a large amount of infected tissue. She was in the hospital for months.

Now a few years later, she's ready to finish writing her book and raise awareness.

"This needs to be told. Not many people survive this and I have and I can talk about it," Becca said.

She says coming so close to death makes her now see life differently. "Be happy. Be happy within yourself if you're a survivor. No matter how many scars, how many surgeries. Be happy. We're alive."