Virgin sued by toddler after in-flight food food made him ill 'in the womb'
A woman has launched legal action against Virgin Airlines in Australia on behalf of her one-year-old son after claiming he suffered food poisoning as an unborn baby when she ate a contaminated chicken roll on board.
Renee Cherry is seeking compensation for alleged damages to son Zayd Fokeera's health as a result.
In a statement through her lawyers, Ms Cherry said it was very distressing for her to learn that she had suffered listeria poisoning while pregnant. 'It's every mother's worst nightmare,' she said.
The incident happened after a pregnant Ms Cherry flew internally from Townsville to Brisbane , then from Brisbane to Melbourne in May 2009.
She consumed a chicken roll she bought on board, which contained listeria bacteria.
The statement of claim read: 'The roll was tainted and not fit for human consumption, as it contained listeria bacteria.
'The listeria bacteria poisoned the blood of the plaintiff's mother and the plaintiff and caused him to suffer injury.'
Zayd was born two months after the flight and according to the documents, his injuries included a bacterial infection called listeriosis, listeria bacteria poisoning, gastro-intestinal injury, developmental delay, and anxiety.
As a result he is claiming for medical expenses and loss of prospective income and earning capacity as an adult, as well as damages.
A Virgin spokesman said today that the writ had not been served on the airline, and it could not comment because it had not seen the details.
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