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Woman dies from brain-eating amoeba at waterpark

On Behalf of | Jun 23, 2017 | Wrongful Death

Outdoor water parks and swimming pools are often synonymous with summer fun — but they’re also potential death traps.

According to sources like the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one of the most common illnesses people catch from public swimming pools and water parks is cryptosporidiosis — a bacteria that can leave the victim with watery diarrhea for as long as three weeks. Outbreaks are particularly common among pools and parks that allow young children, especially those that may not be totally potty-trained. Experts say that even a single accidental mouthful of water can lead to this painful infection that causes dehydration, stomach cramps and vomiting as well as the chronic diarrhea.

Worse, cryptosporidiosis may be one of the least nasty things that you can catch in one of those water parks or public pools — frankly, it’s hard to tell what’s in the water at any given moment, and the average individual doesn’t have any way of knowing how well the pool or park is maintaining its sanitary routines. Often, the only clue that someone may have that their family is in danger of infection comes only after the infection is already present and thriving in a human body.

An Ohio family, for example, is currently suing a North Carolina recreational water park after their 18-year-old daughter contracted a brain-eating amoeba called Naegleria fowleri. She likely contracted the disease when she was thrown overboard on her whitewater rafting adventure in the park.

The family of the victim is alleging that the park didn’t keep up with the necessary sanitary routine to kill that particular bacteria, which can thrive in warmer waters. Adequate chlorine and methods used to keep the water cool could have prevented the bacteria from living in the water — so the park’s negligence is directly related to the young woman’s tragic death.

An attorney can provide more information if your loved one suffers a wrongful death due to a disease or parasite contracted at a public swimming pool or professional water park.

Source: wpxi.com, “Ohio woman’s family files lawsuit against outdoor park,” June 20, 2017

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