British boy, 10, nearly died when 'Egypt belly' during EasyJet holiday turned out to be E. coli

A 10-year-old British boy nearly died after he contracted E. coli during his EasyJet holiday.

Caroline Lawton, the boy's mother, confirmed the World Health Organisation are helping investigate the bacterium that caused his kidneys to fail.

The mother had jetted off to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt with her husband Ross, 43, daughter Lola, 14, son Jude, 10, and four other family members for 12 nights in the sun.

But the day before the group of eight were due to fly home from their EasyJet all-inclusive package holiday, she claims her son Jude developed an upset stomach.

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At first, the mum-of-two believed he was suffering from "Egypt belly", but when he began to pass fresh blood in his stools on June 7, she started to panic and booked a GP appointment.

At the GP practice, Jude's condition deteriorated, and he was admitted to hospital, placed in a seclusion room and later tested positive for STEC E.coli - a bacterial infection that causes bloody diarrhoea, stomach cramps and fever.

When doctors confirmed Jude's infection had developed into the potentially fatal haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), he was rushed to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

Doctors said Jude's kidneys had completely failed so he began dialysis treatment and underwent a blood transfusion to try and get his kidneys to work again.

After two weeks of treatment, Jude's kidney function slowly began to improve and he was discharged on July 6, to continue his recovery at home.

Mrs Lawton says Jude only ate outside of the hotel once during the 12-day trip.

She has warned how to spot the signs and symptoms of the bacterial infection quickly.

Mrs Lawton from Warrington, Cheshire, said: "He started feeling genuinely unwell on Saturday, June 6. He had loose stools but genuinely nothing concerning, we thought he had just got a little bit of 'Egypt belly'. On Sunday we were due to fly home and he was going to the toilet a little more often and didn't want to go in the pool."

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She added: "My concern mainly started when we got to the airport. He started being tired, didn't want to walk and was back and forth to the toilet. It was on the plane that I first noticed the fresh blood in his stool and I did start to panic. He started shaking and he was freezing cold, the air staff increased the temperature on the whole aircraft to try and warm him up.

"[In hospital], he started to puff up and he was swollen, he couldn't even open his eyes properly. The renal consultant came to chat to us and this is when we began to realise the severity of the situation that his kidney function was quickly declining.

"At this point he hadn't had a wee for 24 hours. It was so scary and at this point he still hadn't eaten anything [since June 6]. As soon as he woke up and came around from surgery, he was wheeled straight into dialysis as at this point his kidneys had completely failed.

"He last had dialysis on June 22, and this is when we started to see the changes. A couple of days later the doctor said his kidneys were starting to stir and wake up. Each day his blood continued to improve slightly and was going for a wee more."

Mrs Lawton said: "We were absolutely hysterical when they told us Jude was being discharged and he was getting to come home. Obviously, there were a lot of tears but we did this away from him.

"He was going through the most horrific time, he didn't need his parents crying at his bedside. When he was discharged, it was just pure elation."

Jude now continues to recover at home.

Mrs Lawton said: "First of all, go with your gut. If you notice blood in a stool or they stop passing urine or start swelling in their ankles or eyes, you should get this checked out. I didn't share the story until Jude was home. I was in too bad of a situation and I was concerned I was going to lose my little boy."

She added: "Jude is doing well but he's still not out of the woods and we've got a long road ahead of us. I wanted to spread awareness to stop any other families going through this as it's been very traumatic."

Mrs Lawton claims she's yet to hear back from the hotel, but EasyJet and WHO have been in touch to investigate.

An easyJet holidays spokesman said: "We're really sorry that Jude has been unwell. We have been in regular contact with Jude's family and are continuing to offer them any support and assistance they need.

"We are working closely with our hotel partner to carry out a thorough investigation into what happened."

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