Carter’s Story

Sunday, May 26, 2024 our family went to Lake Anna over the Memorial Day weekend.  We had a
wonderful, fun day spending time with family and friends.  We had no idea the water was contaminated.

On June 1st, our 8 year old son, Carter had severe abdominal pain along with bloody diarrhea and
vomiting.  We took him to the emergency room where they gave him an antibiotic, called Rocephin. 

He was admitted to the hospital that day. Antibiotics were stopped and IV fluids were started for hydration.
The next day, June 2nd, our 5 year old daughter Emma, started experiencing the same symptoms.  
We took her to the ER and she was also hospitalized.  Now we had both of our children in the hospital!  
They were diagnosed with a STEC infection caused by the pathogen E.coli 0157:H7.

As Emma slowly began to recover, Carter was getting worse. He started getting protein in his urine and
his lab results also took a turn for the worse. On June 6th, he was diagnosed with Hemolytic Uremic
Syndrome (HUS) and was transferred to a different hospital so he could receive kidney dialysis.
Two days later, Emma was released from the hospital. Carter spent a total of 13 days in the hospital.
He received 3 blood transfusions and 5 days of kidney dialysis.  Carter was started on blood pressure
medication and was released from the hospital on June 14th. 

Once back home, he seemed depressed and anxious. He was afraid to go to the bathroom by himself.
 Carter experienced severe anxiety going to nephrology follow-up appointments.  He was afraid of
getting his blood drawn, due to being stuck so many times in the hospital. He missed out on baseball
tryouts, swim team, and camping with his grandparents.  He has great sadness about missing out on all
of these fun activities.  We never thought a fun day at the lake could cause such a nightmare for Carter,
Emma, and our family. 

The E.coli 0157:H7 outbreak at Lake Anna resulted in at least 25 people developing a STEC infection
with 8 people developing HUS.