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'I can't walk': Man sickened after meal at Shigella-linked restaurant has long-term symptoms

A man sickened after eating at a Fairview Heights restaurant linked to Shigella thought he was in the clear. Then he began experiencing new symptoms.

FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. — It's been over a month since LongHorn Steakhouse in Fairview Heights shut down because of a shigella outbreak.

Nearly 100 customers got sick, and one is now experiencing long-term side effects.

5 On Your Side first reported on the outbreak on Oct. 2, and it's still impacting some customers to this day.

Cody Patterson ate at the steakhouse on September 21, and a few days later, he got very sick. But he thought it was a bad case of stomach flu.

"I had a 101, 102-degree fever and went to the bathroom every hour on the dot," Patterson said.

It wasn't until a couple of weeks later that he realized what it was. Doctors believe he had Shigella.

"When I first heard, I was like, that's crazy. I ate there the 21st, and I have all these symptoms appearing, and it described it down to a T. I was 100% sure that's what happened," he said.

Patterson was feeling back to normal, but a week ago, he started experiencing reactive arthritis in his ankle and conjunctivitis, some of the long-term side effects people can get. 

He was days away from having a baby, so it worried him.

"When I first woke up, I couldn't put any weight on it, and then the day after that, it got even worse, and here we are. I can't really walk; I'm strolling around on a scooter. It just all progressed and has been fairly miserable," Patterson said.

Dr. Farrin Manian, Chair Department of Medicine and an Infectious Disease Physician at Mercy Hospital St. Louis, said less than 10% of people with Shigella will feel these symptoms.

"That usually develops several weeks after the acute infection is gone. So, it's not usually due to an active infection. It's just the reaction to the infection," Manian said.

Now, Patterson is only getting by on a scooter. He said he can't fully be there for his newborn.

"It was very hard for me to help take care of my loved ones, and it really just put a burden on me because I felt like I wasn't doing enough to support them, but I physically couldn't walk. So that was tough. It has me a little down because even now, I'm not able to carry her, and I can't walk around the room with her," Patterson said.

Patterson is one of over 300 people who've hired Jory Lange, a national food poisoning lawyer, after getting sick at Longhorn. 

He wants help with medical bills and is hoping these symptoms are not permanent.

"I couldn't imagine having this going on for the rest of my life. It's terrifying. It definitely affects my day-to-day life. Just because I ate there for one night doesn't mean that, you know, I should be responsible for paying all this," he said.

The St. Clair County Health Department is still investigating how and where the outbreak started.

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