'I nearly died after wife fed me spaghetti bolognese with death cap mushrooms'

10 August 2023 , 19:48

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'I nearly died after wife fed me spaghetti bolognese with death cap mushrooms'

A man has told how he “prepared for the end” after nearly dying from eating death cap mushrooms in his wife’s spaghetti bolognese.

Erin Patterson has admitted feeding her former parents-in-law poisonous mushrooms at a dinner where three people have died. And now a man said that he was lucky to avoid death when he was served the poisonous mushrooms by his wife 25 years ago.

Many people in Australia have been left stunned by the news that 48-year-old Patterson invited her ex-in-laws Gail and Don Patterson, both 70, Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and husband Ian, 66, for lunch on July 29, and allegedly poisoned them.

Both in-laws died as well as Mrs Wilkinson after eating beef wellington for lunch at the house in Leongatha, in Victoria’s South Gippsland region. And Mr Wilkinson is in a critical condition in hospital waiting for a liver transplant. Ms Patterson is accused of inviting her estranged ex-husband Simon Patterson to their former family home as part of a mediation - but her former partner did not attend.

Simon Claringbold claimed that he was poisoned 25 years ago

And now Mr Claringbold, from Canberra, has revealed how he almost died previously after being given death cap mushrooms from his wife for dinner. He was a fit 39-year-old marathon runner when he reportedly picked the poisonous fungi thinking they were field mushrooms in 1998. That night his wife prepared spaghetti bolognese with the mushrooms which he ate but not his partner and children.

Missing radioactive capsule found after huge search - and it's the size of a pea

Erin Patterson is accused of killing three people

He soon became extremely ill. "I was vomiting and had diarrhoea and I sort of just tried to sleep it off. And the next day — so, two days after the poisoning — I went and saw the doctor," he told ABC News. "He took one look at me and raced me to Canberra Hospital. And my wife gave me a part of the mushroom in a paper bag.

Ex-husband Simon Patterson, who was supposed to join his parents for the lunch that killed them

"The liver specialist there looked at the mushrooms and basically said, 'Oh yeah, that's a death cap mushroom'. And they basically got me in an air ambulance and airlifted me to Royal Prince Alfred in Sydney. And I went into the acute liver ward. I was preparing for the end, I really thought it was the end. The lights were starting to go out."

After 11 days fortunately his condition improved and he survived the ordeal. He was told by a doctor that he was lucky as some mushrooms contain more toxins than others and he had eaten ones that did not kill him.

Heather and Ian Wilkinson were at the meal (Nine)

His revelation comes after Ms Patterson has now appeared to have gone missing after failing to meet with her lawyers. Ms Patterson told reporters just before 10am local time today that she was en route to visit her lawyers in Melbourne, but a representative of the law firm was then seen waiting outside Ms Patterson's home around 5pm to hand deliver a letter from the firm.

The representative told Daily Mail Australia it was the only way Ms Patterson could be contacted after homicide squad detectives confiscated her phone and computer devices. Her lawyers say they are concerned for her well-being amid the media firestorm outside her rural property.

Gail Patterson died after eating the meal

Don Patterson died from the poisonous fungi

The legal representative would not answer questions about the contents of the letter but he did concede it was unusual to have to hand deliver instructions to a client in this manner. Ms Patterson had still not returned to her home by nightfall, forcing the representative to leave without delivering his letter.

Tim Hanlon