Son of ‘death cap mushroom poisoning’ victims reveals mum’s final text | World News

The son of two suspected mushroom poisoning victims has recounted his final exchange with his mother before her death.

Erin Patterson, 49, hosted a beef wellington lunch for the parents and relatives of her estranged husband Simon in the quiet town of Leongatha in Gippsland, Victoria, on July 29.

But just one day later all four guests were hospitalised after ingesting what Australian authorities believe were death cap mushrooms.

Gail Patterson, husband Don Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson died, while Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, is still fighting for life in hospital.

Erin Patterson has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged by Victoria Police.

In a heartwrenching address to 350 mourners, her ex-husband Simon described what unknowingly became his final exchange with his mother.

‘Lots of love to you all,’ Gail is said to have posted in a family Whatsapp group chat as she lay dying in hospital.

Simon was also invited to Erin’s lunch, but did not attend.

‘It was no fluke that mum’s final text message on our family group chat as she lay in Dandenong hospital was: “Lots of love to you all”,’ Simon told funeral-goers.

Simon described his parents as a ‘team working at life together’, news.com.au reported.

‘The fact they died on consecutive days is fitting in some ways, as it reflects their togetherness as a couple that they always worked so hard to grow,’ he added.

For Simon, his mother and father’s Christian faith shaped their day-to-day lives, even something as simple as a wave.

‘They acknowledged life’s transience and death’s reality as something that is not right about the world and very sad but also knew that death is not final,’ he said.

‘They would always wave goodbye when they parted ways. It was partly because one day would be the last wave.’

He added: ‘As mum and dad lay in comas in the hospital in their final days and each day… we were unsure if they would recover or not, it was comforting to know that when we said, “See you later,” we knew it was true.

‘The only thing we didn’t know was when. In the meantime, we’ll miss them.’

The service, which saw countless members of the some 5,800-strong Korumbrra community attend, was led by local reverend Dr Fran Grimes.

Gail and Don, he told mourners, were ‘pillars of the community’.

Erin did not attend the service.

While toxicology reports have not confirmed that the lunch guests ingested poisonous mushrooms, police initially said their symptoms were consistent with death cap mushrooms.

Behind about nine in 10 poison mushroom deaths, the fungus, known as amanita phalloides, slowly erodes internal organs even before symptoms have fully appeared.

They include diarrhoea, nausea, and vomiting which can last for a few days before spiralling into seizures, liver failure and a coma.

Death cap mushrooms grow around Victoria, with state health officials warning residents against foraging for wild mushrooms.

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