Bryan County volunteer firefighter Terry Nielsen died Thursday in an Augusta hospital, more than two months after he contracted a deadly disease during a training accident.
Nielsen’s death was announced early Friday in a press release from Bryan County Emergency Services Director Jim Anderson.
“It is with deepest sorrow that The Bryan County Fire Department announces the death of Volunteer Firefighter/Engineer Terrell “Terry” Nielsen,” said the release, noting Nielsen passed away with “his family at his side.”
Nielsen had been with the department since 2003 and was the state’s rookie firefighter of the year. He hurt his left arm on June 22 while training, Anderson said, and later began experiencing severe pain in the arm, nausea and a fever. He was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Savannah in the early hours of July 23 and diagnosed with necrotizing faciitis, also called the flesh eating disease. Nielsen was airlifted to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, where he remained until his death.
 “Our sympathy and condolences go out to his family during this time of sorrow,” Anderson said.
For information on funeral arrangements see the obituary on page 3.