GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO/Gray News) – A high school student was hospitalized after contracting E. coli in the recent outbreak tied to food at McDonald’s.
Kamberlyn Bowler, a student at Grand Junction High School, had nothing serious on her medical record until early October when she started exhibiting symptoms.
Bowler’s local doctor “thought it was probably an appendix, and recommended they we go to the emergency room,” said Brittany Randall, Kamberlyn’s mom.
“The main thing was that she was in acute kidney failure,” said Randall. “She tested positive for E. coli.”
According to Food Poisoning Lawyer, Ron Simon, Bowler developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), a disease which can be caused by E.coli.
Simon represents 33 victims of the outbreak, 9 of those who have been hospitalized, including Bowler.
“The goal of all of our lawsuits which we found, is to accomplish three things,” said Simon. “The first is, of course, to get just compensation for the clients, the medical bills and the lost wages, and the pain they suffered. The second is to allow their voices to be heard, and hopefully for McDonald’s to listen. And finally and most importantly, through our discovery and through the lawsuits, we’ll be able to figure out exactly how this happened so we can prevent it from happening again to anybody else.”
Simon said this outbreak is unique compared to previous outbreaks.
“McDonald’s sells millions of meals a day,” he said. “If you have just the smallest mistake in your production or testing, then that mistake gets repeated a million times a day. That’s why you’re going to see so many illnesses in this outbreak. There are so many more that haven’t been reported but will be reported in the coming weeks.”
For Bowler and her family, the diagnosis was a surprise.
“This was out of the blue like she’s been healthy, she plays softball, she never had any health problems ever, said Randall. “This is so out of the blue for us, and definitely a struggle I think for everyone that’s involved.”
Luckily, Kamberlyn’s family and herself are in positive spirits and hope for her speedy recovery.
“When I first got here, it was rough, I was not feeling great, but I feel a lot better,” said Bowler. “I just want to go back to school.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as of Oct. 25, there are 75 confirmed cases across 13 states related to the E.coli outbreak.
Twenty-six of those are in Colorado, with the sole death also from Mesa County.
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