Gather & Gather face legal action after meal leaves father fighting for life

A father was left fighting for his life after contracting a rare nerve disease from eating a chicken liver parfait at an awards dinner, served by contract caterers Gather & Gather.

The disease resulted in Philip Earlam being admitted to hospital without the use of his limbs, speech and ability to blink, this meant he could not sleep or speak.

He is now suing the company for negligence.

Earlam told media: “I remember trying to communicate to my wife that I didn’t want our son to see me as I felt like I was turning into a vegetable, I couldn’t move and I could barely see. It was so frightening seeing parts of my body shut down and having no idea why it was happening or what could be done to stop it.”

Public Health England have said that Earlam was one of 63 diners that were either confirmed or thought to have contracted campylobacter at the dinner in The Brewery conference centre in London.

It carried out an investigation at the venue and found traces of the disease in the chicken liver parfait.

A Gather & Gather statement said: “We are aware of an incident involving a number of guests following an event in October. We fully cooperated with Public Health England’s investigation at the time. We have been liaising with affected individuals that we are currently aware of, and will continue to do so.”