WHEN Ruby Crossley took her family to Egypt on holiday, she could never have imagined what was to come.
“It was the worst experience of my life and it scared me to go on holiday abroad,” the mum-of-one told Sun Health.
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The 28-year-old flew out to Sharm el Sheikh with her daughter Paisley and 22 other family members on September 3.
After visiting a restaurant in the area on the third day of their holiday, 15 of the party fell ill and her daughter nearly died.
At first the toddler became lethargic, but two days later she was struck by diarrhoea and vomiting.
Ruby initially feared she was suffering severe sun stroke, and let her rest in the hotel.
However, she claims 14 other members of her family soon came down with similar symptoms, one of whom was close to needing hospital care.
Things went from bad to worse when Ruby got home – Paisley’s symptoms worsened and her mum, 28, booked a GP appointment.
Doctors initially mistook her symptoms for a viral infection and sent her home on September 18.
Two days later, when Paisley woke up “bright yellow” and vomiting, Ruby rushed her daughter to the A&E department at Telford Royal Hospital.
The tot was so dehydrated no tears would form when she cried.
Doctors told Ruby, E.coli had caused kidney failure and rushed to get Paisley on an IV drip before giving her two blood transfusions.
According to the NHS, E.coli is usually spread by eating contaminated food or water, or by handling animals and can cause severe vomiting and diarrhoea.
A small number of E.coli sufferers like Paisley then go on to develop a serious condition called haemolytic uraemic syndrome, which can lead to kidney failure and sometimes death – and poses the greatest risk in children under five.
Ruby says after fearing she would lose her daughter, she will never return to Egypt and is now scared to eat out anywhere in the world for fear of her daughter contracting E.coli again.
Ruby, from Market Drayton in Shropshire, said: “I would never go back to Egypt again. Paisley is my only child.
The whites of her eyes were yellow and she was yellow…She was still vomiting and had diarrhoea and her urine was a cola colour
Ruby
“I am just scared to go out and eat where we live now too as you can’t see E.coli and it is so dangerous.
“Public health has got in touch since and they agree that she has caught this from Egypt because of the rest of the people that were ill.
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“We actually think it was down to the food at the [restaurant we went to] in Egypt. Everyone got ill after we had been there.
“We have not yet had any physical evidence of where it has come from but they are trying to figure it out.”
FIRST SIGNS SOMETHING WAS WRONG
The day after eating at the restaurant, Ruby says everyone was fine at first and they went to see the camels and went on the buggies in the desert.
However Paisley started showing signs of being drowsy but her mum put it down to the weather and being a bit tired.
On a visit to see dolphins the next day, Paisley began to be sick and Ruby knew something wasn’t right but put it down to severe sun stroke until they got back to England and her symptoms worsened.
Ruby said: “I woke up next to her [the next day] and she was bright yellow from head to toe.
“The whites of her eyes were yellow and she was yellow. It was like tea without milk.
“I rang 111 then. She was still vomiting and had diarrhoea and wasn’t passing a lot of urine and the colour of her urine was a cola colour.
“I was petrified. I thought I was going to lose her and was going to walk out of the hospital without her because she was so poorly.”
Ruby claims the other 14 members of the family also fell ill after visiting the restaurant for dinner.
But only Paisley was diagnosed with E.coli after being taken to hospital – the others recovered at home.
Do I have food poisoning?
Food poisoning is rarely serious and usually gets better within a week.
It’s hard to miss the symptoms, which include:
- Feeling sick (nausea)
- Diarrhoea
- Being sick (vomiting)
- Stomach cramps
- A high temperature of 38C or above
- Feeling generally unwell – such as feeling tired or having aches and chills
- The symptoms usually start within a few days of eating the food that caused the infection.
- Sometimes they start after a few hours or not for a few weeks
How to treat food poisoning
You can usually treat yourself or your child at home.
The symptoms usually pass within a week.
The most important thing is to have lots of fluids, such as water or squash, to avoid dehydration.
You should also see a doctor if along with other symptoms you have high fever, blood in your stool, or feel dehydrated or unable to keep any food or liquid down.
Make sure you stay off school or work until you have not been sick or had diarrhoea for at least 2 days.
Source: NHS
Paisley was kept in hospital for 10 days before being discharged on September 30 and now has to have a check-up blood test every week.
Ruby said: “It got to the point where Paisley’s kidneys weren’t working and she wasn’t passing urine.
“She was so severely dehydrated she was on a drip and giving her oral juice.
“Twenty-four hours later, they took the drip off her as her body and face was swelling because her kidneys were not flushing anything. She looked like a balloon.
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“Her kidneys were completely shutting down at this point. They took her for a kidney scan and they could see damage.
“She had her first blood transfusion and it went fine but it only worked to a certain degree.
“She then had a couple of good days and started to perk up but then everything failed again. She went from a peachy colour to yellow again.
“[Doctors said] she contracted E.coli in Egypt and this has continued and killed all her veins inside her kidneys which has caused her to have kidney failure which has then caused HUS syndrome.”
‘PERMANENT’ DAMAGE
Since Paisley’s hospitalisation, Ruby has been in touch with Public Health officials who she claims said her daughter contracted E.coli from Egypt but says she has not reached out to the restaurant itself.
She says her daughter has been left with permanent kidney damage as a result of the E.coli.
Ruby said: “Her kidneys are never going to function the way they did before and she could be a lifelong sufferer of kidney damage now. There is no way her kidneys can replace what they have lost.
“She has to go for blood tests every week now and then every month we go to see a specialist to compare all the bloods.”
A UK Health Security Agency spokesperson said: “The UKHSA West Midlands Health Protection Team (HPT) received a notification from a hospital in Shropshire about an individual with E. coli O157.
“The family were given advice on hygiene to prevent spread of infection, including the importance of effective handwashing with soap and warm water before eating/preparing food and after going to the toilet, washing any soiled clothes or bedding at 60oC, and cleaning any surfaces and areas where a bout of illness had occurred with a bleach-based product.
“Exclusion advice was also given, explaining that anyone with symptoms should not return to nursery/school/work until 48 hours clear of symptoms.”
The restaurant was contacted repeatedly for comment but failed to respond.
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