A UK woman has been awarded £263,000 in damages after a food poisoning incident left her with a lifelong case of irritable bowel syndrome.
In 2009, Tracey Rae, a 44-year-old adult tutor, was dining out at the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society restaurant in Leith where she ordered a chicken liver salad. The next morning she woke to feel extremely unwell with abdominal cramps and nausea, and began passing bloody diarrhoea.
After seeking treatment, Rae was told she had caught a campylobacter infection, likely from undercooked chicken in the salad. Six months later, she was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome caused by the food poisoning infection, reports the Daily Mirror.
Rae wins court case
Following the initial infection, Rae told the Daily Record that she had to follow a strict gluten free, dairy free diet. She also said that she could no longer go camping with her family and found it very stressful when dining out.
“I can’t have any alcohol and I can’t have any caffeine,” she said.
“I am far more anxious than I was before. The children probably missed out on quite a lot.”
The future for Rae
Like many others who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, there is no cure for Rae’s illness. Her lawyers told the court that she would likely have the illness for the rest of her life.
“There is no treatment for her condition. All she can do is to try and minimise her symptoms,” said Rae’s counsellor Dana Forbes.
“At home, she has to make one meal for herself and a separate meal for her family.”
Of the £263,000 awarded to her, the jury stated that £175,000 was for future loss of earnings, £50,000 for pain and suffering and £30,000 was for the cost of following her restricted diet.