STATEMENT OF DAN AND SALLY WITMER, PARENTS OF SARAH WITMER: Five years ago, our 18 month old daughter nearly died after a severe case of e. coli triggered a ravaging blood disease, called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). At that time, even though an Odwalla juice epidemic was in full swing and highly publicized, E.R. doctors untrained in recognizing e. coli in toddlers, turned us away twice from the Gilroy emergency room. (Our pediatrician was out of town.) When we realized, through desperate information gathering, that our child had had Odwalla juice and was showing the symptoms of severe food poisoning, we were still turned down by doctors and told we were overreacting. It took four long days to get help for our desperately sick child. We felt like third world parents, unable to get help and watching our child, vomiting and bloody, fading in our arms. At one point, after a particularly bad vomiting episode, our toddler clung to me and whispered in my ear, "Help me. Please help me."

Finally, on the fourth day, our pediatrician returned and immediately had our child admitted. This very professional and calm doctor's words to us were: "She's shutting down. Get her to emergency immediately. Oh my God. I'm so sorry." I raced with my child, my four year old stumbling behind, across the parking lot to the E.R. room, where I had to initially battle the same E.R. doctor who had turned us away. It took the nursing staff two hours to find a vein that didn't collapse, to rehydrate our child's seriously dehydrated body.

We were transferred by ambulance to intensive care in a better equipped hospital in San Jose where the staff was well-trained in fighting e.coli and related problems. Our relief was short lived, however, when we were told that while the e. coli had passed,the more serious HUS had taken over and could not be stopped. The disease had to run its course, and all the medical staff could do was to try to intervene in its wake. The next two weeks were a nightmare roller coaster ride of life threatening emergencies and ICU interventions.

HUS destroys the red blood cells, causing mass bleeding throughout the body. The platelets go crazy trying to mop up the bleeding, causing damage themselves, by clogging the smaller vessels in the body and by depleting themselves. In the average child, there are somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000 platelets. Sarah's were dropping daily. On the day we were warned that Sarah's platelets had dropped below 30,000 we were scrambling to find platelet donors. That night, Sarah's platelets had dropped below 5,000 and crying nurses wheeled her out to start emergency transfusions. Sarah survived this crisis and overcame several other life threatening emergencies. At one point, after fighting a GI infection and a blood infection at the same time, wrapped up in an ice pack, covered in wires, Sarah again whispered to me: "Baby crying. Baby broken". Thanks to the prayers of many people and to the dedicated doctors who were willing to take risks with new methods Sarah survived and is doing well today. But the images of our tiny toddler, bleeding all over the floor, whimpering in pain and confusion, will never leave me. I can't imagine the images haunting those who have lost a child.

We wouldn't wish the nightmare we endured on anyone, let alone the much worse nightmares endured by others. Even for many families who have been spared the tragedy of a loved one's death, there are still the strong possibilities of kidney damage, heart damage, brain damage, cortical blindness, etc. We have gone to conferences to learn more about the disease and Sarah's prognosis for the future, only to come away heartbroken, having met large numbers of people whose child either died or was severely maimed.

What is the most heartbreaking thing to us is that these children should have been protected. We do not live in a third world country, but in a country rich with resources and know?how. How can it be that there aren't better rules for ensuring that our food supply is not manure contaminated? It is truly shameful that apathy, politics and financial greed keep adequate safety measures from taking place. What needs to happen before the government takes the simple, non-costly measures needed to protect our most vulnerable citizens? These victims are beloved individuals, not faceless statistics. These persons are not expendable for a larger economic cause.

STATEMENT OF SARAH WITMER (AGE 7): My name is Sarah Witmer. I've been wondering why people have been dying from eating dirty food like hamburgers. Could you please try to find some way to keep dirty meat from being sold. I still remember being sick and in the hosiptal. It felt very awful and scary. It gave me bad dreams for a long time. I know how people feel who are in the hosiptal with e.coli. Please try to help them. Thank you.

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