E. Coli 0157: The True Story of a Mother's Battle with a Killer Microbe

In 1992, at a Boy Scout outing, 11-year-old Damion Heersink ate contaminated hamburger meat and spent six-and-a-half weeks near death in pediatric intensive care. In this detailed journal of her son's ultimately victorious battle with the killer microbe identified as E. coli 0157, Heersink, the wife of an Alabama physician, also describes the destruction of her own confidence in the safety of food, despite the assurances of government inspections. Her son's harrowing illness, the ineffectiveness of antibiotics and the slowness of authorities to react to the microbe caused Heersink to become an advocate for reform of our meat-inspection system. A co-founder of Safe Tables Our Priority (STOP), Heersink has testified before Congress and gained media attention. This true-life medical thriller will make readers think twice before sinking their teeth into their next hamburger. 20,000 first printing; author tour. (July) FYI: The author will be profiled in the July issue of Redbook.