Woman Suing Costco For a Chicken Salad That Almost Killed Her

Food

Woman Suing Costco For a Chicken Salad That Almost Killed Her

It has become common practice to stop at Costco for their ready-made meals when you are in a crunch for time. When Chloe Rodgerson's dad stopped in at the popular warehouse store to grab a rotisserie chicken salad 2 years ago, he couldn't have imagined the effect it would have on his family.

As it turned out the chicken in the sandwich was contaminated with E. coli. While all 10 of the Rodgerson's family members and friends that ate the salad became temporarily sick with stomach pains, diarrhea and gas, Chloe ended up in the hospital with more severe issues and is still recovering years later.

Now the 20-year-old woman is suing Costco Wholesale Corp. for strict liability and negligence. According to the CBC, 19 people were infected by the E. coli strain from Costco's chicken salad in 2015 and 5 of them were hospitalized.

"Right before I got sick, I had the best year of my life," Chloe said. "And then all of a sudden I woke up with a ventilator down my throat, literally strapped down to the hospital bed."

Continue to the next page to see what happened next.

Chloe's medical bills have already topped $2 million and she is seeking monetary compensation from the retail giant.

She is in the 5-10% of people who develop hemolytic uremic syndrome from an E.coli infection, which puts vital organs including the kidneys and brain at risk.

Chloe ended up having her large intestine removed, underwent several surgeries and battled staph infections from the surgeries. Her medical issues continued in 2016 when doctors determined that she needed a kidney transplant. Fortunately her husband was a match and the survey took place in February 2017, a month after they married.

She has continued to be hospitalized several times because of risk of rejection of the new organ and suffers from frequent seizures.

With her immune system so weak, she often gets sick and is regularly admitted to hospital for dehydration.

"Since I do not have a large intestine, it is hard for my body to keep the right amount of fluids necessary for kidney function," she told Delish.com.

Chloe is now facing a lifetime of medical bills and visits, she is not able to work full time, or as a performer which she was perusing before she got sick.

"I don't have $2 million and I'm not going to have sufficient resources to keep myself alive going forward in the future," she told Fox 13.

She now finds herself in a situation where she doesn't have many options. She has had to give up her dreams of being on Broadway, and will never be able to bear children.

"It's crazy to think I had such big goals like acting for film or Broadway when now my biggest goals are to make it through the month without getting admitted," Chloe says.

Source: Good Housekeeping / Business Insider / Fox 13