Tourist's life-changing injuries after swimming in filthy hotel pool and contracting horrific infection
Alexis Williams, 23, was staying at the Residence Inn Downtown Ann Arbor Hotel in Michigan in June while visiting her grandmother, who was having a procedure at a nearby medical center.
She decided to take a swim in the hotel's pool with her cousins, who soon became violently ill and started vomiting.
Williams scraped her knee while she was swimming and contracted a rare infection called MRSA, or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
MRSA is caused by staph bacteria and is resistant to most antibiotics, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Within hours of swimming in the pool, Williams was overcome with severe pain and couldn't even walk, she recalled to local news.
'It was outrageous,' she told local Fox affiliate, Fox 2 Detroit.
'The pain was excruciating. I had to get poked a lot with a whole bunch of needles, and being prescribed medications I never thought I'd be prescribed to.'
Williams told local news that doctors said they may have to amputate her leg if they can't get the infection under control
Williams had three surgeries on her leg and remains on strong IV antibiotics, according to her lawyer, Ven Johnson.
She now has to constantly receive medication through intravenous therapy and needs a walker. Williams even feared that her leg would have to be amputated.
'I've gone through a lot of pain and suffering, and still currently am,' she told the Detroit Free Press.
'I'm very frightened, very nervous and just appalled by everything.'
Williams' lawyers obtained records from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy that revealed the heinous conditions of the hotel's pool.
Her lawyers said inspections of the swimming pool on June 12, June 27, and July 8 showed no chlorine or bromine in the water.
The civil complaint argues that 'the hotel knew that its swimming pool had a Standard Plate Count that exceeded 200 CFU/ml, which indicates a dangerous level of bacteria present in the swimming pool and poor disinfection.'
Williams' lawyers believe that the hotel knew the pool didn't have these chemicals and had improper pH levels.
Her legal team accused the hotel of disregarding public safety and creating an unsafe environment for guests.
'Alexis started developing this infection within several hours of coming into contact with this water,' Michael Freifeld, an attorney with Williams' legal team, told the Detroit Free Press.
Williams' legal team alleges that the hotel's pool didn't have chlorine or bromine in the water, creating an unsafe situation for guests
'We have no doubt, given the records we have and the experts that we are going to hire, that the infection Alexis experienced, and is experiencing, was clearly connected to the pool.'
Johnson added that Williams still has a long way ahead of her, and doctors said they may have to amputate if the infection isn't under control.
'For anybody, let alone a 23-year-old young person, it's a very scary, uncertain prognosis,' Johnson said.
The lawsuit is seeking $25,000 in damages. Daily Mail reached out to First Martin Corporation, which owns the Residence Inn for comment on the accusations.
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