Personal Injury Solicitors

The birth mother of TV chef Ross Burden has revealed her son died from Legionellosis as a result of an infected water supply at the hospital caring for him in New Zealand.

Legionella bacteria thrive in water pipes, air conditioning units and showerheads which are not cleaned and disinfected regularly.

Early symptoms of Legionellosis (also known as Legionnaire’s disease) are similar to flu but quickly develop in pneumonia-like symptoms.

In elderly people, children and those with auto-immune conditions or recovering from chemotherapy, a Legionella infection can be fatal.

However, if undiagnosed in healthy individuals, Legionnaire’s disease can also be fatal.

The Mirror reports that Mr Burden – who was the star of the TV show Ready, Steady, Cook – had been recovering well after treatment for leukaemia which involved a bone marrow transplant when he contracted Legionellosis.

Mr Burden’s biological mother Jude Harwood is a former nurse and said an interim coroner’s report states her son died after contracting the infection from a hot water system while being treated at Auckland Hospital in New Zealand.

Mr Burden was treated for pneumonia in hospital and prescribed a nebuliser to help his breathing. Friends who visited the chef in hospital allege the nebuliser was filled up with tap water instead of sterile water.

Visitors to the intensive care unit at the hospital were also not asked to don sterile gown when they entered to prevent contamination, Mrs Harwood claims. Some medically trained visitors told Mr Burden to complain, but he died before he was able to.

Mr Burden was adopted as a child by Anne Burden from Hastings in Suffolk, who said the hospital had contacted her and confirmed Legionella bacteria had been found in the water supply.

A statement from the health board which manages Auckland Hospital reads:

“We regret that this patient contracted this infection while in our care and have extended an invitation to meet with them [the family] to discuss this.

“The board was reviewing the clinical care it provided, but it would not be appropriate to comment further while the case was before the coroner.”

The TV chef was initially reported to have died from cancer in July aged 45.

Mrs Harwood has lodged a formal complaint with Auckland Hospital over her son’s death.

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors – Public Liability Claims

Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors are able to advise those who contract serious infections such as Legionella from public places on how to make no win no fee Public Liability Claims for compensation – including infections contracted in hospitals or care homes, on package holidays, in leisure centres and swimming baths, or in schools, colleges or workplaces.

Personal injury claimants have three years from the date of infection in which to make a no win no fee Public Liability Claim – and children can claim compensation for up to three years after the age of 18.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee Public Liability Claims, call Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors on 020 7923 4020.