The family of an 11-year-old from Michigan is suing the owners of a local Wendy's franchise after the girl developed a severe E. coli infection that the suit alleges stemmed from the food she ate there.
Aspen Lamfers ate a "Biggie Bag" meal — consisting of a hamburger, chicken nuggets and french fries — from a Wendy's on Port Sheldon St. in Jenison on Aug. 1, 2022.
According to her family's lawsuit, she began to feel sick three days later "experiencing nausea, severe abdominal pain, a fever and diarrhea."
The family says her condition continued to get worse and her mother took her to an urgent care. She was immediately sent to the emergency department at Holland Hospital where it was confirmed the E. coli infection had turned into a STEC infection.
The lawsuit claims that testing confirmed the infection was contracted at the Jenison Wendy's.
She reportedly received IV fluids and was able to go home but the next day she felt sicker than she had before and returned to the hospital and was immediately admitted.
For the next four days, she had a persistent and, at times, severe nausea and abdominal pain, her family says.
On Aug. 11, she was transferred to DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids for what was was described as "her worsening condition."
The lawsuit states that she was diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a known and critical complication of STEC infection.
Her condition continued to deteriorate and she was transferred to the pediatric ICU and underwent dialysis treatment for stage 3 acute kidney injury.
On Aug. 14, the suit states that she had a sudden onset of neurological symptoms including a severe headache, a facial droop and intermittent numbness.
She was subsequently diagnosed with acute encephalopathy, which is damage to the brain.
"Why am I so sick? Why? And it's so bad!" she said before she became non-verbal, according to the lawsuit.
The left side of Aspen's body became effectively paralyzed, her family says, and the swelling on her brain became so severe that she started hallucinating.
"It's almost a miracle she survived," said the Hudsonville family's attorney, Tom Worsfold told WOOD-TV.
On Aug. 19, her condition started showing some improvement. She was transferred to a rehabilitation center on Sept. 1, 2022.
On Sept. 9 she was sent home but had to continue physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy, the suit states.
She also has serious permanent medical conditions related to the illness including ongoing seizures and brain damage, her family says.
The lawsuit states that the restaurant had recently been closed by the health department for health code violations. The suit claims the owners, Meritage Hospitality Group, allegedly showed negligence by ignoring "basic and obvious food safety and sanitation practices" and gross negligence by allegedly not properly training its staff.
A company spokesperson declined an interview with MLive, but provided a statement that reads: "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 litigation."
