GRADUATE Stephanie Hawke today spoke of her frightening ordeal after spending seven days in intensive care fighting the deadly E.coli bug.

Stephanie, 21, had just graduated in medieval studies from Lancaster University and was at home with her parents Bob and Louise, of Masefield Avenue, Padiham, when she fell ill with the 0157 mutant strain of the bug.

She spent five days on a ward at Burnley General Hospital, but her condition deteriorated and she was transferred to the intensive care unit where she needed a transfusion of ten pints of blood and eight bags of plasma which had to be specially brought in from Sheffield. Stephanie said: "At its worst, I had four lines going into my arm and three into an artery in my neck.

"One line was used as a feeding tube because I hadn't eaten properly for two weeks and could not keep food down.

"I couldn't even lift my head off the pillow and I was very frightened.

"One night I woke and I was having a nightmare and then I saw the blood going in my arm and I realised I was living the nightmare."

Stephanie was finally allowed home two weeks after she was admitted and although she praised the nurses and doctors who looked after her, being a vegetarian she found hospital food a bit lacking.

She said: "I wanted to be able to eat what I wanted when I wanted and I really wanted a baked potato with cottage cheese which is what I had as soon as I got home.

"I feel fine now but I am still a bit weak. I am sleeping about ten hours each night and an hour after every meal, but I am going stir crazy and I am looking forward to getting back to work."

The family has been told by environmental health officers the poisoning has been traced to feta cheese which Stephanie had eaten at a pub.

Stephanie was one of six people in East Lancashire to contract the fatal bug in an 11-day period.

Today public health officials said that a Ribble Valley food outlet was still at the centre of the E.coli investigation.

The premises, which officials are refusing to name, voluntarily stopped serving food after environmental health officers begun their investigation.

The East Lancashire Health Authority said the food outlet was being linked to three of six cases.

Stephanie is a customer services representative with Connections Plus in Harle Syke.

She is taking a year out before completing her MA at Newcastle University in Heritage Education.

She will return to Burnley General next month to check her kidneys are functioning normally, but so far the signs are positive.

Stephanie may also be asked to give blood samples for research into the mutant strain of the bug which she contracted.

Her mum Louise said: "It would be a good thing if they find something in Stephanie's blood which could help in other cases."

Mr and Mrs Hawke are making a formal complaint to Burnley Health Care Trust because Stephanie was turned away from the accident and emergency department twice and was only admitted after the family's doctor intervened.

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