Woman is left bedbound after eating too much CHEESE on holiday
Sam Philpott suffered migraines, constant vomiting and nausea before her condition got even worse after break in Kos
WHEN Sam Philpott and parents Ian, 52, and Tracey, 51, enjoyed local cheese on holiday in Kos, little did they imagine the life-changing consequences it would have.
The now 22-year old enjoyed a "significant amount" of unpasteurised goats' cheese during the family vacation.
Shockingly, just weeks later, Sam started noticing debilitating symptoms that included migraines, constant vomiting and nausea, fevers and shakes, crippling weakness, exhaustion, fatigue and "incapacitating pain".
Her condition worsened and now, just three years later, the previously healthy woman has been left bedbound and barely able to walk.
She even struggles to climb into bed.
"Who knew that unpasteurised cheese; that is delicious and has brought me much momentary happiness, could cause the mind numbing and wanting to end my life type of pain that I have been suffering with," Sam said.
She continued: "While in Kos in 2013 I enjoyed some lovely goat's cheese on my pizzas, spread on my sandwiches, and in my salad.
"With each mouthful, to my unfortunate complete lack of knowledge and utter surprise, I was ingesting the bacteria that have led to my being bedridden."
Brucellosis, a disease that has now been almost completely wiped out in the UK, originates from animals and can cause severe, long-lasting flu-like symptoms.
Also known as Crimean fever, the condition is highly contagious and can be caused by the ingestion of unpasteurised dairy products or under-cooked meat from infected animals.
Sam is currently receiving intravenous (IV) therapy treatment, the infusion of antibiotics and vitamin supplements directly into the vein, at Sponaugle Wellness Institute, Florida.
She believes she contracted Brucellosis after eating large quantities of the unpasteurised cheese on holiday.
To her and her family’s disbelief, within a few weeks, her symptoms intensified so rapidly that she was forced to use a wheelchair.
Now, she has been left with a growing list of extreme flu-like symptoms, which also include memory loss, insomnia and speech loss.
"The bacteria has not only taken my ability to live a normal functioning life, but my bubbly spirit," she said.
Her reaction to the cheese is another stroke of bad luck for the young woman, who was previously also taken ill while walking in the trails of the Weimar Institute in 2010.
Her family believe the two incidents could be connected.
In late 2010, when she was studying in California, Sam was bitten on the bicep of her right arm and on her left leg by a tick.
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The bites looked bruised and then swelled up and turned black.
Next, the former nursery assistant from Walsall, West Midlands, developed extreme flu-like symptoms including crippling joint pain, depression, anxiety, nausea, and poor concentration.
These symptoms were so severe that Sam was left no other choice but to seek help from her parents.
In 2011, at her wits end, she moved back from California to her parent's house in Southport, Merseyside.
She said that several doctors suggested her symptoms might be psychological.
However, shortly after, when she visited a rheumatologist and physiotherapist at the Southport and Forby District General Hospital, Sam was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a rheumatic condition characterised by muscular or musculoskeletal pain and stiffness.
The condition did not improve and by 2012 she was bedridden by pain for part of every week and needed crutches to walk.
Six months later, she needed a walking frame.
Speaking on her behalf, her brother, recruitment officer Joe Philpott, 24, of Bracknell, Berkshire, said: "My mum became her full-time carer, dressing her and bathing her.
"The pain - in varying parts of her body- became so bad, she would be on the bed rocking, unable to make herself comfortable."
He continued: "Emotionally, it was really difficult and what really hurt her was having to drop out of college."
Now Sam's immune system has completely shut down and doctors don’t know how she will respond to the IV treatment, according to her brother.
"At the clinic, they have said she is one of the worst patients they have seen, in terms of how far her illness has progressed."
He continued: "It's a kick in the teeth, but she has faith they'll be able to help."
"At Sponaugle, doctors believe that she more than likely contracted Brucellosis the summer she was in Kos- so they think it is linked to eating cheese," Joe revealed.
He said the symptoms fit the diagnosis and the Brucellosis is what is now causing Sam's significant pain in her spine.
At the clinic in Florida, Sam had 32 blood vials taken on the first day and a CAT scan.
She is currently receiving medication for Brucellosis and for Lyme disease, a bacterial infection spread to humans by infected ticks.
Her debilitating symptoms fit both diseases. Many of them, however, are solely due to the cheese eaten in Kos.
"Brucellosis and Lyme disease have completely ruined and taken my life from me," Sam said. "If left untreated for a long time, Brucellosis can be serious."
Joe added: "She just wants to go back to studying and get her life back."
The family are fundraising for Sam's ongoing treatment costs. To donate visit