Two children have been fighting for their lives in hospital following routine trips to their local beaches in the seaside town of Dorset.
Three-year-old Ivy Foster and eight-year-old Keeva Hollow contracted serious water-borne diseases from swimming in popular water-sports hub Christchurch Harbour, known for being the intersection between Avon and Stour rivers.
The harbour’s poor water quality has been a conversation among locals for years, being dubbed the “toilet bowl of Bournemouth,” but concerns have reached a pinnacle following the young girls’ close calls in August.
Ivy Foster and her family were paddle-boarding in Mudeford Quay when the tide receded and mum Kimberley realised the poor state of the area.
“When the tide went down we noticed this horrendous smell and we got out of the water, it was disgusting,” Ms Foster said.
Later that week, Ivy became unwell with abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting and an elevated temperature.
Ivy was admitted to hospital where doctors found her to have high levels of E. coli, a bacterium found in faeces.
The E. coli in Ivy’s system was resistant to numerous rounds of antibiotics, and she took a turn for the worse after being discharged from her initial stay in hospital.
“It was a scary, horrendous time and I thought she was going to die,” Ms Foster said.
After focusing on little Ivy’s recovery, Ms Foster is sharing her family’s story to warn others of the dangerous levels of infection in their local water sources.
“I’m disgusted because I live in Mudeford and the beach is normally our first port of call as a family,” Ms Foster said.
“After this I’m not taking my children there any more, and I would tell people to stay out of the water.”
Another local mum, Aisling McCarthy, echoes this sentiment after her eight-year-old daughter Keeva Hollow was also hospitalised from a bacterial infection contracted from swimming off Avon Beach last month.
Ms McCarthy became concerned four days after the beach trip when Keeva was noticeably lethargic and could not get out of bed or keep food down.
After taking her to hospital, doctors found blood in her stool and Campylobacter bacteria, which is caused by water pollution or food contamination.
Keeva is still recovering from her bacterial infection a month later, after losing a large amount of weight.
Ms McCarthy claims that the local water authorities did not take her seriously when she reported Keeva’s dangerous health condition.
“I just got sent back generic right of reply emails from the Environment Agency and Wessex Water, they didn’t ask any questions, I didn’t feel they were taking it seriously.”
A spokesperson from the Environment Agency claimed bacterial levels were within safe ranges in the waters that both girls contracted illnesses from.
“Our officers’ sampling showed E. coli levels to be within the range we would expect to see in Christchurch Harbour,” the spokesperson said.
The Wessex council doubled down on this claim, saying that “last month’s reported high E. Coli readings in the Stour did not relate to Wessex Water or its assets.”
However, Christchurch Harbour and Marine Society (CHAMS) Chairman Martin Stewart revealed that his team of volunteers had recorded elevated bacterial levels in August.
According to EU health directives, safe levels of E. coli for swimming sit at a maximum of 1000 colony-forming units.
The CHAMS recorded levels of up to 370 000 colony-forming units on August 19, the same week Ivy Foster fell ill.
Christchurch Harbour water-sports clubs have been forced to close after news of the local girls’ hospitalisations.
“It is a serious situation, somebody is going to die from this,” Mr Stewart said of his society’s elevated bacterial water readings.
Ivy and Keeva’s stories have motivated residents to call local councils to action, with a public meeting to address the issue and find out what is causing the sudden spikes in dangerous bacterial presence.
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