If you look at rapper OG Maco’s recent photos uploaded to his Instagram page, you’ll notice that he hasn’t shown his full face in quite a while. Lately, he has been turning his face away from the camera, or has been covering up with hats and masks. Now, he’s revealed why he’s been hiding his face — he has been battling flesh-eating bacteria for about three months.
The 26-year-old hip-hop artist shared the news about his condition in photos and videos via Instagram Stories, according to a March 12 report by Fox News . His followers could see disfiguration all over his face, but especially on the left side of his forehead and on both of his cheeks.
Text written on one picture explained that he was “improperly treated for a minor rash” and wound up with “a skin eating disease.”
“So much healing has occurred thanks to God and my doctors that I’m willing to show all a fraction of what I’ve been going through,” OG Maco wrote, adding that this is the “best it’s looked” since he first contracted the disease.
In one of the videos, the Atlanta-based artist sadly said that he’s been fighting the disease all alone because the people that he thought he could count on abandoned him in his time of need.
“I’ve been scared a lot. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I didn’t know if I’d lose my entire face. I almost did,” he said.
Necrotizing fasciitis is the technical term for what OG Maco is suffering. WebMD stated that the disease spreads “quickly and aggressively,” and can lead to death if not treated immediately. Between 600 and 700 cases are diagnosed each year in the U.S.
In addition to skin lesions (bumps, blisters, dots, etc.), those affected with the disease may have pain, redness, swelling, and/or warmth where there are wounds; flu-like symptoms, including fever, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, and weakness; dehydration; fatigue; and a drop in blood pressure.
To treat necrotizing fasciitis, patients receive intravenous antibiotics; surgery to remove damaged or dead tissue to stop the infection from spreading; and, in severe cases, amputation.
“I love you all and appreciate your support from the bottom of my heart. Thank you,” the rapper wrote on Twitter after news about his condition spread online.
OG Maco — whose birth name is Maco Curry, and has also used the alias Maco Mattox — is most known for the 2014 song “U Guessed It.” In July of 2016, he was involved in a severe car accident that left him with multiple skull fractures, a broken orbital, cracked vertebrae, and heart palpations, Hot New Hip Hop reported at the time. He was able to correct some of the damages through surgery, including repairing his right eye, which was nearly blind.
