After experiencing an unthinkable loss, one dad turned his grief into productivity and service. He worked tirelessly to raise awareness about E. coli.
In 1993, Darin Detwiler, father of 16-month-old Riley, lost his son to the disease. E. coli was not the household name it is today. Riley and his family lived in Washington state, where an outbreak was occurring. Riley’s parents thought they could simply avoid fast-food hamburgers, but that was not enough. Riley caught the disease from another student attending the same day care.
Riley got sick from person-to-person contact. Riley’s day care issued a warning to parents that another child had the disease. Riley began to show symptoms that night, including bloody stool and a change in urine color.
Riley was tested for the disease, which came back positive. He was admitted to the hospital and then airlifted to another one. He experienced hemolytic uremic syndrome, which did a number on his intestines. Doctors were forced to remove a large portion of them surgically. He quickly declined, experiencing multiple organ failures, and was placed in a coma. Doctors had to break the devastating news to Darin that his son would not make it. On February 20, 1993, Riley died after being taken off life support by his parents.
Riley’s death was a call to action for his father. "I can’t sit by and not do something about this. I still need to be a father to my son. We need to make E.coli a household name,” he told President Bill Clinton.
Darin’s advice to parents is to not make the “blanket assumption that food is always safe. I don’t want to make people afraid, but there needs to be a better priority put on the idea that food comes with risks. We need to cook it properly, put things in the refrigerator and wash our hands.”
To learn more about this remarkable dad and his journey to raise awareness about E. coli, watch this video.
