'I thought I was hungover at Rugby World Cup – it was actually deadly illness'
A rugby fan has described his ordeal at being hospitalised along with two friends after travelling to France to watch the Rugby World Cup. The trio were taken ill in Bordeaux last weekend after enjoying a night out at the city's Tchin Tchin winebar.
Tim Morgan, 38, and three of his pals initially believed they were suffering from hangovers when they woke on Sunday morning before attending Wales' defeat of Fiji. The next day, however, the group barely touched their food prior to flying home because of "how ill they felt".
By Tuesday, Morgan had been struck with severe diarrhoea, blurred vision and had lost the ability to swallow. Two of his friends were also severely ill with similar symptoms, as well as suffering from vomiting and drooping eyelids - though the other member of their party remained fine.
The group's mistake proved to be eating sardines that evening, which left them with botulism - a rare and potentially deadly condition caused by toxins from clostridium botulinum bacteria. A 32-year-old woman from Greece has died, whilst 15 others who also ate the fish have been admitted to hospital too. Six of those are in intensive care.
Discussing their ordeal, Oxfordshire solicitor Morgan told The Times: "It was bad luck. We didn't actually order them per se. We just said to the owner 'Can you bring us enough food for the four of us with some local wine?' One of the things he picked for us was the sardines."
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Botulism bacteria left Tim Morgan and his pals with severe diarrhoea, blurred vision and the inability to swallow (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Botulism attacks the nerves, brain and spinal cord, and can cause paralysis, according to the NHS. Untreated, it can spread quickly to muscles that control breathing and is fatal in around 5-10% of cases.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the NHS have since been trying to make contact with any other Britons who could have visited the same bar, using banking transactions to identify customers. Those who have successfully been identified have been called by customer services staff advising them to go to hospital.
Morgan, who booked the table using The Fork app using his personal details, continued: "We were all working from home and messaging each other. Three of us were suffering from diarrhoea. One of us was vomiting quite badly. By Wednesday we were all wondering if this was something different. All of us had really bloated stomachs."
The group still attended Wales' win against Fiji (Getty Images)On the same day, meanwhile, he was contacted by public health authorities in France who told him to go to A&E "immediately" after he mentioned the sardines. Morgan then passed the message on to his friends - one of whom had already been contacted by HSBC.
After heading to Reading's Royal Berkshire Hospital, father-of-two Morgan admitted: "At first I thought it might have been a prank. I had no idea what botulism was. My wife Jess googled botulism as I was getting myself ready to go to the hospital and she told me about the paralysis and death. So at that point, I started to panic a bit too."
Morgan had to wait until Friday for an antitoxin to arrive by courier as he began to show signs of deterioration with muscles unable to move food around his mouth. Now home with his family, he explained that he holds no grudge against the bar, describing its owner and his wife as "very welcoming" and the meal and wine as "pleasing" and "enjoyable".
Remarkably, Morgan had booked a return to the bar with his wife later this month, but unsurprisingly it has now closed. All three men are expected to make a full recovery.
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