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MIDDLETOWN — Scott Wills has been warned not to remove the bandage on his right foot under any circumstances. But the pictures he has of it speak volumes.

He grimaces as he talks about the pain, how he was misdiagnosed with gout and how his foot swelled the size of a grapefruit and then turned black.

"It was the worst pain I've ever felt times a million," Wills, 39, of Middletown said. "It felt like an animal was eating at it, like 50 people with knives were digging into it."

Nearly two months ago, Wills was diagnosed with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, more commonly known as MRSA, a dangerous staph infection that's responsible for more than 94,000 serious infections and 19,000 deaths annually, killing more people than the AIDS virus, according to calculations by the Centers for Disease Control in response to a 2007 study by the American Medical Association.

Doctors thought Wills had gout before diagnosing him with the virulent a week and a half after his symptoms began.

Wills believes the potentially fatal bacterium entered his body at a local gym in early January through a small cut on the heel of his foot.

Initially, Wills saw a small red dot on his right ankle. It ballooned within hours and became so painful, he was unable to walk or work.

Wills has been on antibiotics since January and is currently in physical therapy to get mobility back in his foot.

"I lost my job because I couldn't work. It affected me physically, emotionally, financially," Wills said. "I want to get the word out about how easy you can get it. ... It can ruin you."

For more information about MRSA, visit www.cdc.gov.