An active and healthy teenager has been hospitalized and left battling life-threatening kidney failure after eating her favorite meal at McDonald’s.
Kamberlyn Bowler, a softball player in 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 started to suffer from a fever and stomach pain, which she and her mother Brittany initially wrote this off as the flu.
When she also began to throw up and have bloody diarrhea, she went to the ER.
The first visit showed nothing untoward, but the second on October 11 revealed her kidneys had stopped working — and she was quickly airlifted to a nearby hospital.
Doctors there diagnosed her with an E Coli infection which had begun attacking her kidneys, leaving them unable to filter waste from the blood properly.
Kimberly, a high school freshman, is still in the hospital nearly three weeks later and has been through several rounds of dialysis, where machines filter the blood.
Her mother said her daughter’s kidneys now show signs of recovery, and they hope that the next dialysis session is her last — but it is still unclear when she will be discharged from the hospital.
Kamberlyn Bowler, 15, pictured above with her mother Brittany Randall, fell sick after eating Quarter Pounders with cheese and extra pickles from her local restaurant in Grand Junction, Colorado
At least 75 people have been sickened across 13 states after eating at McDonald’s and catching E Coli.
Of these, 22 have been hospitalized, one has died and at least two have suffered from hemolytic–uremic syndrome disorder (HUS), the condition Kamberlyn has.
Investigators say that chopped yellow onions in the burger are the likely source of the E. coli, and the supplier — Taylor Foods — has recalled them from sale.
After the outbreak was revealed last week, a fifth of McDonald’s restaurants withdrew the Quarter Pounder from sale. They are now back on the menu, however, after an investigation showed the beef patties were not contaminated — but in 700 restaurants they are being served without the onions.
Other fast food giants including Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut have all stopped using onions, which they say is a ‘proactive’ measure while the investigation is underway.
Kamberlyn, a high school freshman, was described as wiping away tears during her first interview with NBC News from her hospital bed, saying her illness was ‘not fun’.
Her mother, Brittany Randall, said: ‘It’s definitely been a roller coaster from the time that we’ve gotten here until now. Every day has been new tests or new things that pop up, or it’s basically watching her body just not work.’
She added: ‘We’re not really sure what it’s going to look like for her moving forward.
‘She’ll probably have to do another round of dialysis. We’re hoping that that’s the last one, but we also don’t know, and we don’t know if there’s going to be future issues.’
A spokesperson for McDonald’s said in an email that reports like Kamberlyn’s were ‘devastating to us’.
‘We know that people and families have been significantly impacted, and the well-being of our customers is deeply important to us,’ they added.
The keen 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 falling sick
The family is planning 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 fell ill after eating a Quarter Pounder at her local branch in North Platte, Nebraska. She suffered from abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea and had to go to the ER.
A man in Colorado has also filed a lawsuit against the fast food giant.
Kamberlyn has tested positive for E. coli strain O157, the same as that behind the McDonald’s outbreak.
Ron Simon, a national food poisoning attorney, said he is representing Kamberlyn and 32 other victims of the outbreak.
He also revealed that he has received hundreds of calls from people since it was first revealed. Of those he is representing, he said nine had been hospitalized and one had contracted HUS.
E. coli are bacteria that are typically found in the intestines of animals such as cattle, goats, sheep and deer.
While most are harmless, some can cause a host of gastrointestinal symptoms including stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting.
At least 75 people have been sickened after eating at McDonald’s across 13 states, the CDC says
Many patients have fallen ill between late September and early October, although experts say more cases may emerge
People may 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 have a greater risk of developing a life-threatening form of kidney failure like HUS because their immune systems are weaker.
About 265,000 people are sickened with E. coli in the US every year, while about 100 people die from the disease.
It comes as, according to a new report, it is not burgers that Americans need to worry about — but salads.
Sweetgreen, a Los Angeles-based salad company with a mission to change fast food, was the worst offender for illnesses among major brands, a report said.
Diners who ate there were 10 times more likely to get sick with food poisoning or a stomach upset than the average for other restaurants.
Applebee’s came second, with diners being 150 percent more likely to get sick than the average, and McDonald’s came third, with customers 60 percent more likely overall.
For the report, investigators monitored reports of sickness for 70,000 restaurants over the year 2023 to calculate an average per 100 restaurants. They then compared this to the rate of sickness reports per 100 restaurants per chain for the same year.