Dana's Story

It was a beautiful Easter Sunday in 2001. After church, my husband, our three-year-old daughter Dana and I were looking forward to brunch at a local resort hotel on the beach. It was a gorgeous day, and we were seated between an amazing view of the ocean and a wide array of gourmet food. I was not surprised that Dana, a typical three-year-old picky eater, did not want anything to eat except cantaloupe.  She proceeded to fill her plate with cantaloupe at least three times during brunch while my husband and I indulged on the other delicious food.  It was a wonderful afternoon and truly a memory we will not forget - in more ways than one!

The next day Dana complained of a headache and stomachache.  I contacted her pediatrician and was told it was just a virus.  Over the next six days Dana continued to get worse. Her fever rose to 104 degrees, she had severe stomach cramping and bloody diarrhea.  Finally after a visit to the emergency room she was admitted to the hospital.  After four days of blood tests, stool cultures, surgical consults, ultrasounds, a negative E. coli culture, and tests negative for parasites and rotavirus, the doctors were still unable to find anything conclusive.  Despite her abnormal hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, Dana was able to keep fluids down and her more severe symptoms had lessoned so her doctor allowed us to take her home as long as she was closely monitored by her pediatrician.  We were relieved to finally be going home!

It was 7:00 pm when we were discharged from the hospital. Two hours later, the phone rang and we received news that no parent should ever have to get.  We had just tucked Dana into her bed when the doctors called. They were so concerned about her condition that they began to question whether Dana was going to live.  Dana had a positive culture for Salmonella Poona blood poisoning, and they advised us to bring her back to the hospital immediately. She needed to begin an aggressive course of IV antibiotic treatment right away.  We had asked if we could wait until the morning. They said no because the Salmonella Poona organism was in her bloodstream, the illness could produce more severe health issues, and we needed to bring her back immediately.  Fifteen minutes later we were in the car on our way to the hospital. It was a very long ride as we wondered whether our daughter would live or die.

After five long days of a very aggressive course of four antibiotics, we were again able to take Dana home and this time stay home! A week after our discharge, the FDA warned consumers that an outbreak of foodborne illness associated with cantaloupe had caused numerous illnesses and deaths across 14 states. 

Until Dana became ill, I never washed my cantaloupe rinds before slicing them up. I never thought that it mattered. Today, every piece of fruit or vegetable in our home never goes without being washed once, if not twice. As a parent, you are excited when your child eats healthy- never thinking that eating healthy food could almost lead to their death.  It changes your life.