Croton-on-Hudson, New York

"I can't change what happened to me, but I want to do everything I can to make sure it doesn't happen to someone else."

No one was more surprised than I to learn that I had E. coli O 157:H7. Why? I was a healthy, 31 year-old mother who knew all about the dangers of food poisoning. I took precautions, lots of them. Friends even teased me and called me the "Food Police." Certainly if anyone could be safe from E. coli, it would be me. And yet, in August in 1997, I found myself laying in Intensive Care diagnosed with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) and Thrombotic Thrombocytopoenic Pupura (TTP). Doctors told my husband that I would probably not make it through the night. He held my hand, and urged me to get well, knowing that I would probably never get a chance to kiss our two-year old daughter goodnight again.

My liver had failed. My kidneys had failed. And, every touch, no matter how gentle, caused ugly black and blue marks to appear. I was yellow from the jaundice. My body was grotesquely swollen from the fluids my kidneys could no longer excrete. I was so bloated that I couldn't even bend my fingers and it felt as if my skin might burst. I was in the hospital for almost three weeks. Most of that time, in excruciating pain. The tubes seemed to come out of everywhere. I spent hours at a time hooked up to plasmapheresis and dialysis machines, wondering if my life could ever be the same again. It was so hard to believe that my entire life had been turned upside down by a hamburger.

Aches, pain and numbness are part of everyday life now. But, I feel like I am one of the lucky ones. I survived. I can't change what happened to me, but I want to do everything I can to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else. I have to believe that I survived to help other people avoid this fate. How can I, as one person, get this message out? Because of S.T.O.P that's a road I don't have to travel alone. S.T.O.P takes the concerns of many to the government, the meat industry and the press as a single voice speaking out with a strong and urgent message - make our food safe! Food is the very foundation of our existence and I believe that if we can't guarantee the safety of the food on our tables, then nothing else really matters.

Copyright 2002 by author: Serena Gordon

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