NSW: Father thought daughter was dying after eating KFC: court

AAP General News (Australia)
08-04-2009
NSW: Father thought daughter was dying after eating KFC: court

SYDNEY, Aug 4 AAP - A father has told a judge he believed his seven-year-old daughter
was going to die two days after eating a KFC chicken twister.

Giving evidence in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday, Amanwial Samaan said he, his wife
and son also had a bite of the twister and also fell ill, with vomiting and diarrhoea.

His daughter Monika, now 11, is suing KFC through her father, claiming the source of
her salmonella poisoning was the twister bought on October 24, 2005, at its Villawood
outlet, in Sydney's west.

The fast food outlet has denied responsibility for Monika's illness, which has left
her effectively a quadriplegic and severely brain damaged.

Speaking through an Arabic interpreter, Mr Samaan said the four family members became
sick on October 25, but his mother, who did not eat any of the twister, remained healthy.

He said his wife took the children to a doctor that day and they were given medicine,
but their health continued to deteriorate.

On October 26, Monika collapsed on the sofa and he called for an ambulance.

Mr Samaan said he felt like "any father who sees his daughter is dying in front of him".

Both Monika and her brother were admitted to The Children's Hospital at Westmead, where
Mr Samaan spent the night.

He said Monika was rushed into the intensive care unit, where she was unconscious and
attached to tubes.

She looked "totally dead" to him.

The hearing continues before Justice Stephen Rothman.

AAP mss/evt/it/cdh

KEYWORD: SAMAAN

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.