By Friday morning, we may know exactly what made dozens of people sick and may have led to the death of one woman who ate dinner at a gala hosted by the San Antonio Housing Authority.
The Metropolitan Health District is expected to release the finding of its investigation into what many believe is food poisoning. The health district says that at least 66 people who ate at the December 16 Golden Gala were treated at area hospitals.
James Hamilton is one of those that was treated. Hamilton is a resident of a SAHA complex on San Antonio's south side. He was one of nearly 1,000 guests at the dinner catered by Chef Don Mitchell.
“It was a traditional holiday mix that included mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey,” Hamilton recalled.
He said that he started feeling sick on his way home from the gala when he began to feel cramps.
“Before I was able to get through [my] door, I had an episode,” Hamilton said. “I actually had diarrhea, nausea, and I had to sleep in a fetal position for many hours during the night.”
After several hours of the misery, he went to the hospital.
“As soon as I arrived at the hospital, and I said ‘Golden Gala,’ I was immediately taken out back into the emergency room,” he said. “The doctor informed me that there were SAHA residents and family of SAHA residents that were going to hospitals all over the city.”
Metro Health was notified and began its investigation. A spokeswoman for the district couldn't tell KENS 5 how many people were hospitalized, but did confirm that 66 people became ill after eating at the gala.
The health district only interviewed about one-tenth of the people who attended the gala. They say that the housing authority didn't give them a list of the gala guests.
Hamilton and seven others are now clients of Houston-based law firm Robins Cloud LLP, which is conducting its own investigation into what happened.
“We got the right to have a little bit of closure,” Hamilton said. “We should know exactly what happened, what made us sick. We want to truth to come out.”
The family of another SAHA resident, Guadalupe Jimenez, has filed a lawsuit against Chef Mitchell. Jimenez died hours after eating at the gala.
Mitchell declined interview requests from KENS 5.