The parents of two year old twins have begun legal action against a petting farm after their children became seriously ill from contracting E.coli from Godstone Farm, Surrey, in August 2009 – and they are seeking compensation for personal injury.The incident was reported last year, with the twins being just 2 victims of a total of 93 who became infected after the outbreak at Godstone last year. 76 where children under the age of ten.
The twins, Aaron and Todd Mock, who were infected after visiting the petting farm on a school trip, were 2 of the most seriously affected, and had to spend weeks in hospital after suffering from kidney failure.
The legal action against the farm follows the release of a report into the outbreak which revealed that the Health Protection Agency (HPA) failed to take appropriate action to reduce and contain the outbreak. This failure and the lack of action by the HPA lead to the farm remaining open throughout the bank holiday weekend, during which they had over 5000 visitors, despite the fact that they were aware of a number of cases of the bug.
The farm was eventually closed four weeks after the first report of the E.coli bug, and the head of the HPA has released a statement saying that he is sorry for the failings of the organisation.
The two children’s lives are still affected by the incident, and both may need kidney transplants in the future. Their mother, Mrs Tracey Mock, released a statement to the BBC earlier this month saying “at the moment we’re just grateful that they’re both happy. I don’t know what the future holds for them and for now we’re just enjoying our two little boys”.
This is a heart breaking story of how two little boys lives have been left in the balance due to the negligence of the authorities we rely on to protect us and keep us healthy. Hopefully, this incident will lead to changes in future procedures, and lessons being learnt to avoid similar tragedies in future.
