Rhode Islanders stricken by illness after trip

Neither Austin Richmond nor his mother knew it at the time, but he had been infected with a potentially lethal germ known as E. coli O157:H7. And, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday, the 11-year-old from Lincoln, R.I., caught it doing what many children do when they are away at camp, by eating a cheeseburger.

There were trips to the emergency room, trips to the doctor’s office, and initial confusion over what was causing him to be so sick. For more than two weeks, Austin, a sixth-grader, has been banished from school and not just because of his own illness. There is also concern that, because his immune system has been so ravaged battling the E. coli infection, he might prove especially susceptible to swine flu, which killed another student at Lincoln Middle School over the weekend.

“He just wants to go back to being him,’’ said Austin’s mother, Jaimee Richmond. “He wants to be able to play soccer. He wants to go to Boy Scouts. He wants to go back to church, which are words I never thought I would hear coming out of his mouth.’’

On Oct. 13, Austin and classmates and staff from Lincoln Middle trekked to Camp Bournedale in Plymouth, Mass., spending four days on the idyllic shores of Great Herring Pond. He returned raving about the experience, including the food.

“He had a great time on the trip,’’ his mother recalled.

But within 12 hours of returning home, he had turned violently ill. He was not the only one. At last count, about 30 students and staff members from Lincoln Middle had been diagnosed with laboratory-confirmed cases of E. coli poisoning, said Annemarie Beardsworth, spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Department of Health. All of them are recovering, she said. Disease investigators have blamed their illnesses on tainted ground beef supplied to the camp by South Shore Meats Inc. of Brockton.

The Richmonds sued South Shore Meats yesterday in a case filed in Plymouth County Superior Court. Company representatives did not return telephone messages seeking comment on the lawsuit. South Shore Meats instituted a voluntary recall of its products last week after health authorities established the link between the company’s products and the E. coli cases.

In a separate case filed in the same Massachusetts court, a Marshfield family sued a New York meat producer, accusing it of supplying meat contaminated with E. coli, resulting in a six-day hospital stay for Andrea Munro, 12. The hamburger patties in that case were purchased at a supermarket, according to the family’s attorney. A Seattle law firm that has made a national name for itself in food-borne disease litigation, Marler Clark, is representing the families of both children who fell ill.

In an interview yesterday, Jaimee Richmond said Austin, already small for his age, shed 10 pounds in the past few weeks. In order to care for her son, Richmond had to drop her fall classes at the Community College of Rhode Island, where she is studying social work.

“There’s a lot more that can happen from this than people realize,’’ Richmond said. “It’s not just diarrhea. It’s so stressful.’’

Even though Austin is substantially better now, he still endures occasional bouts of diarrhea and remains deeply skittish about eating beef.

“I’m angry, I’m sad, I’m confused, I’m overwhelmed,’’ Austin’s mother said. “I just want to go back to normal life. Tuesday night, it used to be Ponderosa night because it’s cheap, it’s family, the kids loved it. I just want it to be Ponderosa night again.’’

Stephen Smith can be reached at stsmith@globe.com.