A 15-year-old high school freshman was hospitalized with complications from severe food poisoning after eating McDonald’s Quarter Pounders three times in the weeks before a deadly E. coli outbreak was discovered.
Kamberlyn Bowler of Grand Junction, Colorado, had to fly 250 miles in mid-October to a hospital near Denver, where she underwent 10 days of dialysis in an emergency effort to save her kidneys.
She was one of at least 75 people sickened and 22 hospitalized in an outbreak initially traced to contaminated onions. In Mesa County, where Camberlin lives, 11 people have become sick and one has died. Federal health officials say onion strips used in burgers may be the source of the outbreak.
The ordeal left Camberlin’s mother, Brittany Randall, worried about her daughter’s health and horrified by the idea that the burger could cause so much damage.
“It’s really scary that we have so much faith and trust in eating healthy foods and then for it to be broken,” Randall said.
Kamberlyn is preparing to sue the fast-food chain after she contracted the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria identified in the outbreak.
According to medical experts, the bacteria produce a dangerous toxin that can lead to a serious kidney disease complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome. Dr. Myda Khalid, a kidney specialist at Riley Hospital for Children in Indiana who was not involved in Camberlin’s care, said many children were hospitalized for weeks and some required kidney transplants.
“Time is of the essence,” Khalid said. “We have to get through this window, and we have to get through it very carefully,” she said.
The condition can be fatal, but most children eventually recover, she said.
Kamberlyn said she ate McDonald’s Quarter Pounders with cheese, extra pickles and onions three times between September 27 and October 8. arrive.
A few days later, she began to feel unwell, experiencing fever, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps.
“I couldn’t get out of bed,” she recalled. “I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t drink. I lived on popsicles. I felt like shit.
Randall, a prison guard who has three older children, thought her younger daughter might just have the flu. But when Camberlin texted that she had blood in her stool and urine and was vomiting blood, Randall said she knew something was serious.
On Oct. 11, Camberlin went to the hospital in Grand Junction. The doctor said she probably had a stomach problem. She was sent home and told to stay hydrated. By October 17, she felt no improvement and returned to the emergency room. Tests at the time revealed Camberlin was suffering from acute kidney failure, her mother said. She was taken to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, near Denver, where she remained Tuesday.
Randall said her daughter’s future health and medical costs are uncertain.
“The hospital bills are piling up,” she said. “I’m a single mom, and I just don’t know if I can afford what’s going to happen after this. I don’t know what the future is going to look like.
The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science & Education Media Group. The Associated Press is solely responsible for all content.
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