Toddler contracts severe E. coli infection after family lake trip

What started as a fun summer day on the lake has turned into a medical nightmare for an Oklahoma family.

Two-year-old Elisabeth Faircloth was in a medically induced coma for days. She's awake now but still fighting for her life after contracting a rare and severe E. coli infection. Her mother, Suzanne Faircloth, is still in disbelief.

"It's a nightmare, and it happened so fast — within like a week, we're here," she said.

At the beginning of June, the Faircloth family spent two days boating and swimming at Keystone Lake. Shortly after the trip, Elisabeth began feeling sick and was prescribed antibiotics for a strep infection. But her condition quickly deteriorated.

"I took her to urgent care, and as soon as the doctor sees her, he's like, 'You need to take her to the ER,'" Faircloth said.

Doctors later confirmed Elisabeth had tested positive for all three strains of E. coli, which have caused severe complications in her kidneys, lungs and blood called HUS. The family says the antibiotic made the infection worse.

"It blows our minds, because we've never even heard of anything like this ever happening," Faircloth said. "We've heard of E. coli — but usually in hamburgers."

Elisabeth remains in intensive care, where doctors are doing everything they can to stabilize her. There is no cure for this type of infection — only supportive treatment as her body tries to recover.

"They are working night and day — the staff is amazing — just to keep her stable," Faircloth said. "It kind of feels like you're drowning and you get brief moments of air just enough to keep you alive, but there's no end in sight."

Faircloth is now speaking out in hopes of warning other parents about the risks of bacterial infections in natural water sources like lakes and splash pads.

Recent rainfall has caused elevated water levels at Keystone Lake, which experts say can increase the risk of bacteria exposure, particularly from stormwater runoff.

We reached out to the Army Corps of Engineers about the possibility of contracting E. coli at the lake.

"During the recreation season we conduct sampling at designated swim beaches at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers managed parks for various bacteria strains. Bacteria are always present in freshwater reservoirs and these levels are constantly changing based upon innumerable factors which may include lake levels, currents, time, temperature, human and wildlife activity.

Bacteria levels vary widely from one location at a designated swim beach to another, and test results can only provide an indication of bacteria level at location and moment the sample was obtained. Testing does not tell us overall bacteria levels throughout a lake.

In the instance a designated swim beach tests positive for unacceptably high bacteria levels, we will retest the designated swim beach. If the designated swim beach returns higher-than-acceptable bacteria levels we will close that swim beach and re-test after 24 hours. We will not reopen a designated swim beach that is closed due to bacteria levels until testing demonstrates that bacteria levels are within acceptable ranges.

We do not test designated swim beaches that are closed due to high water or maintenance. Millions of visitors enjoy outdoor recreation at our lakes each year, and the vast majority do so without injury or illness. While we strive to create opportunities for our visitors to enjoy nature, we cannot eliminate all risk."