Will’s Story

June 2017

Location : Knoxville, TN

Source:  Raw milk

Disease: HUS from STEC (E. coli 0157:H7)

Days hospitalized: 60

In 2017, our family moved back to America after living in England for 11 years. We were struggling with adapting to the food here and missing the much healthier European lifestyle. I saw nutritional consultations advertised at Sulack Health and Wellness in Powell, Tennessee, where my friend was working as a massage therapist. I decided to find out what we could do to feel better. In addition to trying some supplements, the main recommendation I walked away with was to stop drinking commercial milk, which is pasteurized at such a high temperature that the protein molecule is warped and can cause inflammation, and to find a source of raw milk. I was not warned of any risks of drinking unpasteurized milk.  I spent a couple of months reading online about the benefits of raw milk and called around until I found a local cow share program and bought a share in the French Broad herd, run by Earl and Cheryl Cruze, who started Cruze Farm, a thriving business in Knoxville with a dairy, ice cream and pizza parlors, and a wedding barn venue. That was in December.

At the beginning of June, after drinking raw milk for 5 months, William started having vomiting and diarrhea one weekend. I also had an upset stomach and thought we must have a bug of some sort. But after a couple of days of increasing abdominal pain, lethargy and not being able to keep down any fluids, we went to urgent care and they sent us straight to the ER. There William’s blood work showed scary results: that his kidneys weren’t functioning properly. Because several children had already been admitted with the same symptoms, the staff was aware of an E. Coli outbreak from the French Broad herd and told us his diagnosis. That evening, William had his first seizure and was put on a ventilator.

William spent two months in the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. There were several days and nights where we didn’t know if he would live. He spent one month in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. His E.Coli infection led to Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome from the virulent Shiga toxin that was shed into his blood stream. He suffered from bloody diarrhea, vomiting, more seizures, ventilated twice, struggled to breath for days, numerous respiratory therapies, high blood pressure, high heart rate, pneumonia, Adeno virus, colitis that left him writhing in pain and needing constant morphine, renal failure, 22 days of dialysis treatments lasting about 4 hours each, encephalopathy, edema, permanent brain damage, surgery for PICC line and vascular catheter placement, multiple IV’s, hives from allergic reactions to medication, antibiotics, sedatives, pain killers, anti-anxiety and seizure meds and many other drugs, hallucinations from withdrawals, night terrors from delirium, countless X-rays, 2 ultrasounds, 4 CT scans, 2 EEG’s, 2 MRI’s, 7 blood transfusions, TPN and then a feeding tube to keep him alive… the list goes on. It was a living nightmare that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Our hearts broke over and over to see his suffering. 

Through that experience we also experienced much of God’s mercy and grace and the support of wonderful medical care and family, friends and churches. 

William is now permanently disabled with a gross and fine motor impairment. Through years of expensive and time consuming therapies he has learned to eat, speak, and walk again with the assistance of his gait trainer and AFO’s. He also has long term kidney damage and was on medication for many years. 

He is a bright and happy boy and he is a miracle. But giving him raw milk is the biggest regret of my life. It took me a long time to forgive myself.