COMFORT, Texas -- There are three confirmed cases of an antibiotic-resistant staph infection in Comfort, among them the senior class president at Comfort High School.

Rodney Eckert, 17, who also plays wide receiver on the school's football team, recently found what he thought was an ant bite in his thigh. The bite turned into a hard spot, and a day later "it developed and became about the size of a softball. About that time, I started to limp," Eckert said.

"It spread, spread fast and that was the scary thing. It was so small, and then it got so big," Eckert said.

A doctor prescribed antibiotics, but the redness spread. By noon the day of the school's recent homecoming game, he was in surgery, where doctors cut a 14-inch canal around his leg.

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Rodney Eckert: Staph Infection 'Scary'

Eckert then spent six hours in a hyperbaric chamber, so oxygen could hasten the healing.

"It's sore. The doctor said I should expect to get more sore as it goes on," Eckert said. "But walking-wise, I can walk normal. I get tired easily."

Experts say that contact sports are an ideal way for the otherwise common bacteria to enter a body through cuts or abrasions.

Eckert's advice is to act fast.

"You just have to wash your hands, and watch out. Don't be embarrassed to tell anybody," he said.

Eckert is on sulfa drugs because the bacteria has mutated from the public's overuse of antibiotics. He said he hopes to be back playing for his high school team in four or five weeks.