Stoke-on-Trent Legionnaires' outbreak: Dad Richard Griffin died doing 'job he loved'
THE 64-year-old man killed by Legionnaires' Disease was a delivery driver who supplied meats to the discount superstore being blamed for the outbreak.
JG Meats driver Richard Griffin regularly supplied products to the cafe at JTF Mega Discount Warehouse, in Fenton.
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JTF Mega Discount Warehouse in Fenton.
It is understood father-of-two Mr Griffin was taken ill in mid July after visiting the store and was in hospital for a week.
A hot tub at the King Street superstore has been identified as the 'probable source' of the outbreak which killed Mr Griffin and left 18 peole in hospital.
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Stoke City fan Mr Griffin, of Westbury Park, died at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire's critical care unit at 10.30am on Saturday.
His cause of death was confirmed as legionella pneumonia at an inquest yesterday.
Assistant coroner Anthony Curzon said: "I have received a preliminary post-mortem examination report, but there are further toxicology tests to be carried out.
"The cause of death was multiple organ failure, due to legionella pneumonia."
Neighbours today spoke of their shock after Mr Griffin's death. Friend Helen Entwistle said: "Richard will be really missed. It was so shocking to find out he had died because he was one of the fittest guys you could meet.
"He used to deliver meats to the warehouse and he must have picked up the bug there. He loved his family and his job."
Her husband Alan said: "Richard was a good friend, who was charming and funny.
"He was one of the most loyal people you could meet.
"We have known him for about four-and-a-half years but he was the sort of guy you felt you had known all your life."
Nine patients last night remained in hospital as they continued to recover from Legionnaires' Disease.
The spa pool was withdrawn from sale on July 24 and it is possible more cases could emerge over the next week.
It has emerged thousands of people have contacted NHS Direct with health concerns since the JTF store was named as the 'probable' source on Monday.
Dr Steve Fawcett, clinical director of Stoke-on-Trent Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "Around 1,000 extra people contacted NHS Direct over the 24 hours after the hot tub was identified as the probable source, but they were all found to have no symptoms of the illness."
Early symptoms of the 'flu-like' disease include muscle aches, tiredness, headaches, a dry cough and fever.
Following the outbreak, lawyers are preparing for potential legal action on behalf of the affected patients.
Associate solicitor Amandeep Dhillon, of Irwin Mitchell – which is already representing 30 patients involved in this year's Legionnaires' outbreak in Edinburgh – said: "It is difficult to say how much money people could claim. It would depend on the severity of the illness and the impact it has had on them, whether it stops people from working, or means they will need a carer."
To pay tribute to Mr Griffin, email tributes@thesentinel.co.uk.
Comments
by camband
Thursday, August 02 2012, 6:50PM
“by lizzy25
"Its shocking to think that in this day and age it is still possible to contract serious illnesses from just being out and about doing your normal every day things like shopping or doing your job".
Unquote.
We tend, generally, to think that 'in this day and age' -we are 'out of danger' where infectious diseases are concerned -no risk of death etc. That's mainly because of all the advances in modern medicine we hear so much about. But many of those 'advances' are in fields such as cancer and heart disease.
A BBC Radio 4 Programme Broadcast just a couple of days ago -and repeated this Sunday at 5pm "FILE ON 4"... investigates some startling developments in a disease we are led to believe has been 'cracked' long ago. Not true. TB is on the increase in the UK -especially in some of our inner cities.
Quote:- The latest annual TB statistics revealed a 7% rise in new cases.
A Health Protection Agency representative acknowledged some areas are "failing to prioritise screening".
http://tinyurl.com/bljdhvy
http://tinyurl.com/cmxl26z (listen again facility)”
by subtext
Thursday, August 02 2012, 5:22PM
“Yeah. The compensation system isn't as frivolous or easy to abuse as some people seem to think. Anybody putting in a claim will need to be tested (the defendant's solicitor will demand that), and antibodies to the JTF/Legionnaires' strain will show up in their blood-work.
No antibodies, no case. Simple as that.”
by doubty
Thursday, August 02 2012, 2:51PM
“DTrotter. People can claim all they want. It's called a test, and if you are proven to not have the strain, then you won't have a leg to stand on with a claim.”
by DTrotter
Thursday, August 02 2012, 1:47PM
“As i said in an earlier comment, watch how many more jump on the band wagon when rightly so for some the claims start, it doesn't surprise me in the least that thousands of people have contacted NHS Direct with health concerns.”
by subtext
Thursday, August 02 2012, 1:05PM
“I don't think you understand how infectious disease works. Not everybody exposed to bacteria gets the disease. Thousands of people will have passed through JTF during the affected period, but an extreme minority were unlucky enough to get it. Those above 40 years of age were more likely to get it than anybody else, but still they were in a minority. Only a very small number of people will have got close enough to the hot tub to inhale its vapour in sufficient enough quantities, and only a small number of those people would have immune systems incapable of preventing the infection.
There is no mystery here.”
by brassiquelint
Thursday, August 02 2012, 11:23AM
“I have visited the warehouse many times but not recently, there is a number of staff 40 or over that work on the shop floor. It has been publicised that none of the staff had contracted the disease. so therefore still find that not all questions have been answered yet”
by lizzy25
Thursday, August 02 2012, 10:21AM
“Its shocking to think that in this day and age it is still possible to contract serious illnesses from just being out and about doing your normal every day things like shopping or doing your job. It does seem strange that the staff of the warehouse have not contracted the illness though. So sad for the family of the man who died, what a shock for them, I am so sorry for their loss.”
by subtext
Thursday, August 02 2012, 10:20AM
“Firstly, I have no idea whether any staff at the store were affected, so I have to assume you read that somewhere.
Secondly, people in certain age groups are more susceptible to certain strains of bacterial infection than others. It's seems very likely that this strain of Legionnaires' was more likely to affect people above 40 years of age. So maybe the answer is simply that the workforce at JTF is mainly young. If they do have older staff, perhaps most of them don't work on the shop floor or just went nowhere near the hot tub during the affected period. These warehouse stores are so big that it's very likely some staff will never need to come into contact with the affected area.
From what I understand, an infected hot tub or spa will have a very limited transmission radius anyway, so plenty of people in more susceptible groups (over 40s) may have visited JTF during the affected period but not come into contact with the bacteria at all.”
by brassiquelint
Thursday, August 02 2012, 9:59AM
“Still baffled as to how the Staff have managed to escape the virus, sounds like the poor gentleman who lost his life was a healthy man. I think there has been a lot of contradiction and its still very vague. They say they know all but one visited the warehouse but don't explain did the person or didn't they visit, if not there must be another cause.”