A Kiama Downs woman caught up in a massive salmonella outbreak in southern Sydney has undergone an emergency caesarian to save her life and that of her unborn baby.
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A unhygienic chicken roll from a Sylvania bakery brought 27-year-old expectant parents Ashley and Caine Buchanan to their knees just as they were preparing for the arrival of their first child.
Baby Ava Buchanan was delivered on Tuesday after a tense two days of monitoring by specialists at Wollongong Hospital.
A depleted Mrs Buchanan had lost an estimated 18 litres of fluids in two days. She had a fleeting moment with her new baby but has barely seen her since, as both recover from their ordeals.
“I can’t eat still - I can’t even hold down a glass of water yet,” Mrs Buchanan told the Mercury from her hospital bed, Friday.
“I’m pretty drained.”
After 36 weeks of carefully watching what she ate, Mrs Buchanan travelled with her husband to Sylvania for a birthing class Sunday. They stopped in at Box Village Bakery and Cafe and both ate a hot chicken roll with gravy at about 1pm.
By 8pm, Mrs Buchanan was violently ill with intense cramping, vomiting and diarrhea. Mr Buchanan drove her to Shellharbour Hospital about 1am Monday. By then, he too was experiencing some of the same symptoms.
Mrs Buchanan was transferred to Wollongong Hospital, where doctors kept watch on her falling blood pressure and worsening loss of fluids. Doctors decided to operate when unborn Ava’s movements slowed.
“It wasn’t until the next day they told me they were so lucky that they made that call, because once they started the cesarean they found I had internal bleeding so it could have ended up much worse if they waited,” Mrs Buchanan said.
“[Mr Buchanan] was in emergency getting treated as well when all this was happening. It was hard not having him by my side. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to come in and see the birth of the baby.”
Mr Buchanan said he was devastated at missing the birth of his first child.
He is calling for harsh penalties for food operators who fail to understand the human toll of poor hygiene practices.
“It was heartbreaking. It was probably one of the worst moments of my life,” he said. “The specialist afterwards … said there was a high [possibility] that the baby could have died and your wife could have died.
“To hear that and to see my wife in a state where she was close to death was bloody the most stressful thing I’d ever had to go through.
“We had a plan for the [delivery] day, all written out what we were going to do. The bags were packed and I was going to be there to support her. [Instead] I had to sit in that chair there and wait two hours while my wife was in surgery, not knowing the outcome.
“He [the cafe operator] needs to be in jail.”
The NSW Food Authority closed the Box Village Bakery this week after more than 150 people presented at St George and Sutherland hospitals with food poisoning. Tests confirmed salmonella bacteria had been found in some of those patients who had eaten at the bakery.
Mrs Buchanan spoke of her disgust at bakery owner Hien “Johnny” Dau’s offer to provide free food if he was allowed to trade again.
“I’m just appalled that his first thought would be ‘let’s give more food out’,” Mrs Buchanan said.
“It’s the sickest we’ve been in our life and knowing that there was a life at stake as well – I want to do everything in my power to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Baby Ava ultimately arrived at 35 weeks and 6 days, weighing a healthy 2.9kgs.
Doctors told the family a younger baby of a lesser weight may not have withstood the stresses of food poisoning.