E. Coli 0157: The True Story of a Mother's Battle with a Killer Microbe

E. Coli 0157, written by Mary Heersink, is a nerve-racking, adrenaline-filled story of a mother’s experience with a then unknown deadly bacteria. The book brings up many reactions in its readers, especially the questioning of the practice of doctors in hospitals. The reader’s knowledge base of scientific procedures in emergency centers was widened as well as the knowledge of how to the human body reacts to different agents in its system.

For Mary Heersink, all is good. And all that is not good can be fixed. It’s the way it is. Mary’s husband, Marnix, is a doctor in their residence state of Alabama. The book opens with Marnix applying for a medical license in Florida, even though he already has licenses in eleven other states. Mary disagrees with the hard work that Marnix is putting himself through for something he doesn’t need, but eventually gives in and lets him do what he wants to do. February is a busy month for the Heersinks. Bayne, the youngest son is turning nine, Sebastian is heading off to camp, and eleven-year-old Damion is going on a Boy Scout campout and has a soccer tournament when he comes back. Commotion is common in the household, so Mary learns to deal with it. Sending Damion off to the campout, Mary notices some hamburger meat left out. She doesn’t question it much: She’s a mother, she’s made to worry about everything. She pushes the worry aside and later regrets it. Damion comes home and spends Friday night at a friend’s house before his big soccer game and car trip to Florida to send his brother Sebastian to camp the next day. Damion is not well. He is pale, has an upset stomach, and a certain lightness fills his body. Mary, like any mother would, stops at the pharmacy on the way to the game and purchases Pepto-Bismol among other things to help make her son feel better. This would be another thing she would soon learn to regret. They eventually take the car trip, even as Damion’s illness continues to get worse. It gets so bad that Damion is eventually admitted into the hospital. Antibiotics are administered. Doctors at the first hospital are not helping enough, so Damion is transferred to St. Joseph’s. Days in the hospital are described like a roller-coaster ride. Damion is hallucinating, begging for water, and his organs are going out one-by-one. A cause is still unknown, yet he is on antibiotics, a respirator, an IV, getting plasma exchanges, enduring many pericardiocentesises, and many other life saving procedures. His condition gets worse and worse, and the family fears for his life. Marnix eventually comes to the hospital, leaving his exam behind to help save his son’s life. Doctors are stumped. Damion sleeps for most of the day, and gives his parents the scare of their lives when suddenly his blood pressure reaches 40/20 and he starts shaking and turning blue. He eventually pulls through, but his parents continue to worry. One doctor, John Kelton, eventually asks the question that could quite possibly save Damion’s life. “So when did he have the hamburger meat?”

This book was one of the most interesting I have ever read. My reaction about the book as a literary work was quite positive. Mary Heersink did a great