Kansas City man shares survival story after contracting E. coli while waiting on transplant
The CDC is currently investigating two active E. coli outbreaks across the country.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A Kansas City man is sharing his story of survival after falling ill to E. coli.
Lukas Kirby doesn’t like to ask for help, but the 23-year-old was forced to last Tuesday when he became violently ill. Kirby initially thought he had a fever. Doctors at The University of Kansas Health System discovered it was a strain of E. coli bacteria.
“Extreme fatigue, dehydration, excreting out both ends,” Kirby said of his symptoms. “You can’t sit up. You can’t walk. It took me out for sure. I thought I was going to die. It was crazy.”
To complicate matters, Kirby is currently awaiting a kidney transplant. He was diagnosed with stage 4 chronic kidney disease at age 16.
“My doctors said I have two years if I do no treatment at all,” he explained. “That’s no dialysis, no transplant and now it’s reduced by another year.”
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It’s a grim prognosis that haunts Kirby’s ' mother, Shelly Peetz. She immediately flew into town from Arizona.
“I felt helpless, seeing him so sick,” Peetz said. “It’s a scary disease to have, kidney disease, and we thought it would go much further into his life not at age 23.”
E. Coli spreads by eating contaminated food. Kirby has an idea where he contracted the illness, but it hasn’t been confirmed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently investigating two active E. coli outbreaks across the country. One is linked to onions served at McDonalds. The most recent prompted a recall of carrots sold by Grimmway Farms. Both outbreaks include cases in Missouri.
“[E. coli is typically] reported automatically, sometimes just through computers and labs,” said Dr. Dana Hawkinson, the medical director for the health system’s Infection Control and Prevention (IPAC) program.
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Hawkinson said most people recover from E. coli without the need for hospitalization. Symptoms usually begin three to four days after exposure and can last up to two weeks.
Hawkinson said that avoiding food cross-contamination, cooking food to its appropriate temperature and good hand hygiene are good preventive measures.
“When you do all of those things you can certainly reduce the risk even if there might be contamination of your food,” Hawkinson added.
As for Kirby, the experience has forced him to prioritize his health now more than ever.
“I hope I never get it again. That’s for sure,” he said.
Kirby was released from the hospital a week after being admitted. He’ll find out next month if a woman, who has offered to donate one her kidneys, is a match.
If you are interested in becoming a living kidney donor, click here.
For more information on E. coli and how to treat it, click here.
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