Waipio river into the sea

This is the river in Waipio draining into the sea. Just above this is the giant pond that I rinsed off in after body boarding. Apparently it is common knowledge to most islanders and people that live in tropical climates that you NEVER swim at the bottom of a fresh water river in a place like this if you have an open cut because of a nice little bug called leptospirosis. Ten days later, the day after Labor Day I found this out when I went down with flu like symptoms and a 104 temp for 8 days. After this, on my second visit to the emergency room they realized what I had since I couldn't walk and my kidneys and liver were failing. After three days in the hospital in which I was finally able to sleep I got to go home and take antibiotics for another week. Its been a couple weeks since then and my legs are still screwed up and I still don't have all my strength back. Needless to say, I will NEVER be returning to the taro fields in Waipio and I will never rinse off in this river again.