An 11-year-old girl nearly died after developing a life-threatening illness from E. coli following a meal at a “dirty” Wendy’s restaurant in Michigan.
Aspen Lamfers enjoyed a burger, chicken nuggets and fries at a Wendy’s in Jenison after softball practice on August 1, 2022.
But she fell ill three days later and was diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome which develops from E. coli and can be fatal.
The girl suffered brain, kidney and pancreatic damage and was hospitalized for more than four weeks. She had seizures, left-sided paralysis and required dialysis.
His family recently filed a lawsuit against Meritage Hospitality Group, owner of Wendy’s, on April 1 and is seeking $20 million in damages because the restaurant where Lamfers ate was found to have violated important health laws. Michigan feed that summer.
An 11-year-old girl nearly died after developing a life-threatening illness from E. coli following a meal at a “dirty” Wendy’s restaurant in Michigan.
Aspen Lamfers suffered brain, kidney and pancreatic damage and was hospitalized for more than four weeks where she had seizures, left-sided paralysis and required dialysis.
His family filed a lawsuit against Meritage Hospitality Group, owner of Wendy’s, on April 1 and is seeking $20 million in damages because the restaurant where Lamfers ate was found to have violated important health laws. power supply in Michigan that summer.
Lamfers felt sick and had symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea and fever — common with E. coli — three days after eating at Wendy’s.
She was then transported to the hospital on August 7, 2022 and taken to a pediatric intensive care unit at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital at Corewell Health.
The girl then required dialysis treatment as her kidneys were in stage 3 renal failure and the infection attacked her pancreas, requiring an insulin infusion.
Lamfers subsequently suffered brain damage that caused left-sided paralysis, affected his vision and led to hallucinations.
Her condition only began to improve after two weeks and she was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital on September 1 before being allowed to return home on September 9.
She then pursued physical, speech, occupational and language therapies. His family has now filed a lawsuit against the catering company and is seeking to recover medical expenses.
“As a result of her STEC infection, Aspen suffered permanent injuries and life-changing health problems,” the legal filing states.
He estimates that $500,000 was used for past medical bills, that they will incur $1.6 million in future medical expenses, and that they will lose about $5 million in future earning capacity.
The family’s lawyer, Thomas Worsfold, said medical staff “almost found it a miracle that she survived.”
“She was about to die. Her parents are trying to balance their gratitude that Aspen is doing as well as she is now, with all the challenges she still faces,” he told MLive.com.
“If you look at these health department reports and just the hygiene and food safety practices of the employees at this restaurant, you are almost guaranteed that there will be cross-contamination.”
He said Meritage did not want to resolve the case before trial and now has 28 days to respond to the lawsuit.
The Wendy’s restaurant Lamfers visited had two poor health inspections that found significant violations of Michigan’s food law during the same summer.
There was moldy and spoiled food, poor hand hygiene, food stored at unsafe temperatures and a dirty store “at the excessive end of the spectrum,” according to Ottawa County medical records.
The July 27, 2022 inspection found 17 health and food code violations against the restaurant, including a disinfectant solution too diluted to be effective, undated products and cutting boards left dirty the day before. day before.
“Due to excessive violations, employees were not trained in performing food safety-related tasks such as date stamping, washing/rinsing/sanitizing food contact surfaces, and discarding food that are no longer safe and adulterated,” the report said.
Lamfers felt sick and had symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea and fever — common with E. coli — three days after eating at Wendy’s.
The Wendy’s restaurant Lamfers visited had two poor health inspections that found significant violations of Michigan’s food law during the same summer.
“Cleaning does not occur in the facility at a frequency that ensures cleanliness for staff and guests.”
The restaurant was temporarily closed to retrain staff on food and safety issues and address issues highlighted in the report.
It was then reopened on August 1, 2022 and served customers including Lamfers. Around the same time, the University of Michigan Health West Hospital reportedly reported an increase in hospitalizations due to E. coli.
The Lamfers family’s lawsuit claims the hospital found a link between the infections and the Wendy’s restaurant.
The store’s subsequent health inspection found 12 more violations, including improper hand washing, staff not changing gloves after contamination, and raw beef stored at potentially unsafe temperatures.
“After being warned, they completely ignored it and continued business as usual and that’s what made Aspen sick,” attorney Worsfold said.
“My heart breaks for Aspen and her parents.
“It’s permanent brain damage and she’s dealing with it and dealing with it, but it’s just a loss of potential – it’s heartbreaking, it’s devastating.”
The Wendy’s store in Jenison improved significantly during its last review, with only two violations being corrected on site.
There are five lawsuits in Michigan against Meritage related to E.coli illness in the summer of 2022 due to lettuce.
A company spokesperson said: “We take the health and safety of our customers very seriously.
“We deny any wrongdoing or failure of our food safety practices in these cases. We cannot provide further comment in light of the open dispute.
DailyMail.com has contacted Meritage for comment.
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