The 15-year-old high school freshman was hospitalized with serious food poisoning complications after eating McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers three times in the previous weeks. a deadly E. coli outbreak detected.

Kamberlyn Bowler, of Grand Junction, Colorado, had to fly 250 miles to a hospital near Denver in mid-October and undergo dialysis for 10 days in an emergency effort to save her kidneys.

At least 75 people fell ill and 22 were hospitalized in the outbreak, which was tentatively determined to be caused by contaminated onions. In Mesa district, where Kamberlyn lives, 11 people became ill and 1 person died. Federal health officials said: sliced ​​onion The ingredients used in burgers are the likely source of the epidemic.

The ordeal left Kamberlyn’s mother, Brittany Randall, concerned about her daughter’s health and shocked by the idea that one burger could potentially cause so much harm.

“It’s pretty scary knowing that we put so much faith and trust in eating something healthy and breaking it,” Randall said.

Kamberlyn moves to sue fast food chain after contracting virus E. coli O157:H7 bacteria confirmed in the outbreak.

According to medical experts, this bacteria produces a dangerous toxin that can cause a serious complication of kidney disease known as hemolytic uremic syndrome. Dr., a kidney specialist at Riley Hospital for Children in Indiana, who was not involved in Kamberlyn’s care. Myda Khalid said many children were hospitalized for weeks and some continued to need kidney transplants.

“Time is critical,” Khalid said. “We have to go through this window, and we have to go very carefully,” he said.

The condition can be fatal, but most children eventually recover, he said.

Kamberlyn said she ate McDonald’s Quarter Pounders with cheese, extra pickles and onions three times between Sept. 27 and Oct. 8. He said the burgers are easily available during football halftime and while watching the school softball game.

In the following days, she began to feel ill and experienced fever, vomiting, diarrhea and painful stomach cramps.

“I couldn’t get out of bed,” he recalled. “I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t drink it. I was surviving on Popsicles. I felt like shit.”

Randall, who works as a prison guard, has three older children and thought his little girl might have the flu. But when Kamberlyn texted him and said he had blood in his stool and urine and that he was vomiting blood, Randall said he knew it was serious.

On October 11, Kamberlyn went to a hospital in Grand Junction. Doctors said he probably had stomach problems. He was sent home with instructions to stay hydrated. On October 17, he wasn’t feeling any better and returned to the emergency room. Tests at the time showed Kamberlyn had acute kidney failure, her mother said. He was flown to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, near Denver, and remained there Tuesday.

Chris Kempczinski, McDonald’s chairman, president and CEO, apologized for the outbreak during a conference call with investors on Tuesday.

“There is nothing more important to us than the safety of our customers,” Kempczinksi said. “The recent E. coli cases are extremely concerning, and it is heartbreaking to hear reports of how this is affecting our customers.”

Randall said her daughter’s future health and medical expenses are uncertain.

“Hospital bills are going up,” he said. “And I’m a single mom, and I don’t know if I can afford what’s coming after all this. I don’t know what the future is going to look like.”

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Education Media Group. AP is solely responsible for all content.