A young woman almost lost her life after taking an innocent dip in the sea.
22-year-old Caitlin Edwards went for a swim near Amroth Beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, only to fall severely ill shortly after her trip to the beach.
As it was soon revealed, Caitlin contracted E. coli while unknowingly swimming in seawater polluted by sewage. To make matters worse, the bacteria triggered haemolytic uraemic syndrome, a rare and serious disease that causes kidney failure.
Over the period of five months, the young lady was fighting for her life with her family closely by her side.
Her mother, Jayne Etherington, has since spoken out about their ordeal in hopes of preventing others from going through the same “horrendous” experience.
Etherington also slammed the authorities and called for action after untreated sewage was disposed of in the sea, putting visitors at risk.
While signs warning visitors about the polluted water were allegedly erected on the beach, Caitlin and Jayne failed to see any while in the area.
“She’d gone from a happy, healthy vibrant 22-year-old to looking like she was going to die. We didn’t know she wasn’t. It was horrendous,” the mother added.
Speaking of the polluted waters was also environment team leader Nicola Mills who said “the effluent discharge was due to a private discharge point failure.”
“The owners of the private discharge point acted immediately to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Our officers have visited the area since and there have been no further concerns witnessed or reported,” she said of her agency’s efforts to investigate the matter.
“Around the same time there was also an ongoing CSO discharge therefore it was not possible to pinpoint sole responsibility for the failure of bathing water sampling at Wiseman’s Bridge.
“Both Amroth and Wiseman’s Bridge were sampled on the same day. Results from those tests showed a failure in water quality at Wiseman’s Bridge but not at Amroth. Every discharge outlet has its own permit limits which are decided on an individual basis by our permitting team.”
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