Parents question federal response after son’s near-death encounter with E. coli 

Colton George, an active 10-year-old boy from Avon, IN, known for his prowess on the baseball field and his agility on the basketball court, was the embodiment of the limitless energy of childhood. But on Nov. 17, 2024, his life took a drastic and terrifying turn.

That morning, Colton was doubled over in pain, his face contorted with agony. His parents, Amber and Chris George, rushed him to the emergency room, clutching a stool sample in hopes of answers. Within hours, Colton was diagnosed with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (STEC-HUS), a condition that had triggered acute kidney failure. Doctors warned the parents that the next 24 to 72 hours would determine whether their son would survive.

A healthy boy and a sudden illness

“We thought it was just the antibiotics,” Amber George said, recounting the early days of Colton’s illness. Colton had recently been prescribed medication for a tooth infection, and his diarrhea seemed like a plausible side effect. But as days passed, his symptoms worsened. By the weekend, Colton’s diarrhea had escalated to 15–20 episodes a day, and he complained of severe abdominal pain.

“When he couldn’t continue playing in his basketball game, we knew something was really wrong,” Chris George said. “Colton’s the kind of kid who’ll push through anything. For him to stop… that scared us.”

By the next day, Colton was in the intensive care unit at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, hooked up to a dialysis machine, undergoing blood transfusions, and sedated in a medically induced coma. The boy, who had only days before raced across a basketball court, was now fighting for his life.

The toll on the family

Colton’s hospitalization turned the George family’s lives upside down. Amber, who had recently started a job with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, had only four hours of paid time off and worked remotely from the hospital.

“I spent all 18 days in the hospital,” she said. “I left for a total of five hours — just to shower and grab clothes. I’d work odd hours, doing whatever I could to keep my job while being there for Colton.”

Chris, a firefighter with the Wayne Township Fire Department, used 187 hours of FMLA leave.

“I’d go home to let the dog out, drive back to the hospital, stay as long as I could, then head back home again,” Chris said. “Between the hospital, work, and other responsibilities, it felt like our lives were in chaos.”

The financial burden added another layer of stress. Gas for multiple trips to the hospital, food delivered through services like DoorDash, and other unexpected expenses piled up quickly.

“We couldn’t just run to the grocery store and cook meals,” Amber said. “Every meal came from the hospital cafeteria or a delivery app. It adds up fast.”

The road to recovery
Colton spent 18 days in the hospital, 11 of which were on 24/7 dialysis. During this time, he missed his 10th birthday and Thanksgiving, both of which the family had planned to celebrate together. The emotional toll on Colton was palpable.

“He’s usually the life of the room,” Amber said. “But in the hospital, he was just… blah. You could see it in his eyes.”

Chris added, “He was missing his teammates, his sports, and the rhythm of his life. Being confined to a hospital bed for that long is tough on anyone, but especially for a kid like Colton.”

Since returning home, Colton has shown remarkable resilience, but the road to recovery is far from over. He takes daily medications and requires regular nephrology appointments to monitor his kidney function.

“He’s doing well physically,” Amber said. “But he’s started having vivid dreams about being in the hospital. It’s like he’s reliving it in his sleep.”

Tracing the source
As Colton recovered, Chris George became determined to uncover how his son had contracted such a devastating illness. His investigation led to the Indiana State Department of Health.

“I spent hours on the phone, demanding answers,” Chris said. “I wanted Colton’s whole-genome sequencing data, and when I finally got it, I forwarded it to Bill Marler.”

According to Marler, a food safety attorney representing the George family and publisher of Food Safety News, whole genome sequencing (WGS) data was instrumental in identifying a likely link between Colton’s illness and a broader E. coli O157 outbreak affecting 88 people across 12 states.

In this case, Marler explained that the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) database, which contains public data from labs and the CDC, provided a “genetic fingerprint” of E. coli O157 found in the outbreak.

When Marler’s firm examined this data, they found that Colton’s illness shared the exact same genetic fingerprint of E. coli O157 as the other cases listed on the FDA’s outbreak chart. 

Marler said, “You have 88 people on the FDA’s chart linked to romaine lettuce… and you happen to have  people, on the NCBI chart, all the exact same genetic fingerprint of E. coli 0157.”

At the end of December 2024, the FDA released the information that romaine lettuce was the outbreak source linked to a specific strain of E. coli O157:H7.

This genetic match has led Marler and the family to speculate that Colton’s illness could be connected to the romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak, even though the FDA hasn’t definitively confirmed it.

As of the posting of this story, the agency has refused to name the supplier, citing that the contaminated product is no longer on the market.

A call for accountability
The Georges are outspoken about their frustration with the lack of transparency.

“This and only this is why my son Colton got sick and almost lost his life,” Chris said. “Holding the person, persons, or company accountable for their gross negligence is the only way to ensure this doesn’t happen to another family.”

Amber added, “We’re not buying poison and feeding it to our kids. We expect the food we buy to be safe. The system failed us, and now our son’s life is forever changed.”

Systemic failures and the need for change
The failures that led to this outbreak are systemic. Marler has raised concerns about a lack of transparency from the FDA regarding the E. coli O157 outbreak linked to romaine lettuce.

According to Marler, the FDA has conducted traceback investigations and product testing, meaning they know the supplier responsible. However, the agency has not disclosed the supplier’s name to the public.

“They obviously know who the romaine lettuce came from,” Marler said. “The public has a right to know that information, and I think that’s the failure.”

Marler characterized the situation as part of a broader systemic issue. “When the FDA has adequate information, they should be alerting the public of existing dangers. Without good information, the public can’t make decisions about where they should buy their food products from,” he said.

While the FDA has not named the supplier, Marler said that many people in the food safety space have a specific suspicion. He stopped short of sharing it, saying, “That’s not the right thing for me to do, but that’s what the FDA should be doing.”

Marler concluded, “The family is not being told that they are part of an outbreak, even though they are part of an outbreak. And the public’s not being told that there are real people linked to this outbreak.”

For the Georges, this experience has fundamentally changed how they view food safety.

“We used to eat salads all the time,” Chris said. “Now, we don’t touch lettuce. Colton’s terrified of it, and honestly, we are too.”

Sharing their story
Despite the pain, the Georges have chosen to share their experience in hopes of sparking change.

“Life can change in an instant,” Amber said. “We went from having a perfectly healthy child to almost losing him. If sharing our story can prevent even one family from going through this, it’s worth it.”

Chris echoed her sentiment. “This isn’t just about Colton,” he said. “It’s about the 88 people affected by this outbreak. It’s about holding companies accountable and making sure no one else must suffer like this.”

A community’s support
The Georges credit their community for helping them through this ordeal. From friends and family to coworkers and neighbors, they received an outpouring of support.

“People we didn’t even know reached out,” Chris said. “They helped with the dog, brought meals, and just let us know they were there. From parents to siblings to friends to people we didn’t even know, a lot of people came out, stepped up, and supported us. It meant the world to us.”

Looking ahead
As Colton continues to recover, the Georges remain steadfast in their advocacy for food safety reforms.

Their message is clear: Colton’s story should be a wake-up call for consumers, companies, and regulators alike. No family should have to endure what they did — and with systemic changes, perhaps one day, no family will.

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Source: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2025/01/parents-question-federal-response-after-sons-near-death-encounter-with-e-coli/