An active, healthy teenager was hospitalized and left battling life-threatening kidney failure after eating her favorite meal at McDonald’s.
Kamberlyn Bowler, a softball player from Grand Junction, Colorado, ate a quarter pounder with cheese and extra pickles several times between late September and early October.
But earlier this month, the 15-year-old began suffering from fever and stomach pain, which she and her mother Brittany initially dismissed as the flu.
When she also started vomiting and having bloody diarrhea, she went to the emergency room.
The first visit showed nothing unusual, but the second, on October 11, revealed that her kidneys had stopped working and she was quickly airlifted to a nearby hospital.
Doctors diagnosed him with an E Coli infection that had begun to attack his kidneys, leaving them unable to properly filter waste from the blood.
Kimberly, a high school freshman, is still in the hospital nearly three weeks later and has gone through several rounds of dialysis, where machines filter the blood.
Her mother said her daughter’s kidneys are now showing signs of recovery and they hope the next dialysis session will be her last, but it is not yet clear when she will be discharged from the hospital.
Kamberlyn Bowler, 15, pictured above with her mother Brittany Randall, became ill after eating Quarter Pounders with cheese and extra pickles at her local restaurant in Grand Junction, Colorado.
At least 75 people have fallen ill in 13 states after eating at McDonald’s and contracting E Coli.
Of them, 22 have been hospitalized, one has died and at least two have suffered hUremic-emolytic syndrome (HUS) disorder, the condition Kamberlyn suffers from.
Researchers say the chopped yellow onions in the burger are the likely source of E. coli, and the supplier, Taylor Foods, has removed them from sale.
After the outbreak was revealed last week, a fifth of McDonald’s restaurants pulled the Quarter Pounder from sale. However, they are now back on the menu, after an investigation showed that beef burgers were not contaminated, but in 700 restaurants they are served without onions.
Other fast food giants, including Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, have stopped using onions, which they say is a “proactive” measure while the investigation is ongoing.
Kamberlyn, a high school freshman, was described wiping away tears during her first interview with NBC News from his hospital bed, saying his illness was “no fun.”
His mother, Brittany Randall, said, “It’s definitely been a rollercoaster from when we got here until now.” Every day new tests have come out or new things have come out, or basically it’s about seeing how your body just doesn’t work.’
He added: “We’re not really sure what their future is going to be like.”
‘He will probably have to undergo another round of dialysis. “We hope it will be the last one, but we don’t know either and we don’t know if there will be problems in the future.”
A McDonald’s spokesperson said in an email that reports like Kamberlyn’s were “devastating to us.”
“We know that people and families have been significantly affected and the well-being of our customers is deeply important to us,” they added.
The enthusiastic softball player and high school freshman was previously healthy, but has now been in the hospital for nearly three weeks as she battles kidney failure.
Kamberlyn described her illness as “not fun” during an interview. She is pictured above before she became ill.
The family plans to file a lawsuit against the fast food giant in the coming days, making them at least the third group to do so.
Among them is Clarissa DeBrock, 33, who became ill after eating a quarter pounder at her local branch in North Platte, Nebraska. He suffered abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea and had to go to the emergency room.
A Colorado man also filed a lawsuit against the fast food giant.
Kamberlyn tested positive for E. coli, but it is unclear if she tested positive for the same strain that caused the outbreak.
Ron Simon, a national food poisoning attorney, said he represents Kamberlyn and 32 other victims of the outbreak.
He also revealed that he has received hundreds of calls from people since he first revealed himself. Of those he represents, he said, nine had been hospitalized and one had contracted HUS.
E. coli are bacteria normally found in the intestines of animals such as cattle, goats, sheep and deer.
While most are harmless, some can cause a range of gastrointestinal symptoms, such as stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea, and vomiting.
At least 75 people have gotten sick after eating at McDonald’s in 13 states, CDC says
Many patients fell ill between late September and early October, although experts say more cases may emerge.
People can become infected from contaminated water or food, especially raw vegetables or undercooked beef.
Healthy adults usually recover from an E. coli infection within a week, but young children and older adults are at higher risk of developing a life-threatening form of kidney failure like HUS because their immune systems are weaker.
About 265,000 people get sick from E. coli in the United States each year, while about 100 people die from the disease.
This comes because, according to a new report, Americans should not worry about burgers, but rather salads.
Sweetgreen, a Los Angeles-based salad company with a mission to disrupt fast food, was the worst illness offender among major brands, according to a report.
Diners who ate there were 10 times more likely to get sick from food poisoning or an upset stomach than the average at other restaurants.
Applebee’s came in second, with its diners 150 percent more likely to get sick than average, and McDonald’s came in third, with customers 60 percent more likely overall.
For the report, researchers monitored illness reports from 70,000 restaurants through 2023 to calculate an average per 100 restaurants. They then compared this to the rate of illness reports per 100 restaurants per chain during the same year.