Father-of-two is left needing a heart transplant
- Christopher Rasor suddenly fell ill with condition on holiday in Spain in August
- Father, 40, now fighting for his life after infection exacerbated heart condition
- Doctors at Addenbrooke’s Hospital say he needs a heart transplant to survive
A father has been left needing a heart transplant after being struck down by Legionnaires’ disease on holiday.
Christopher Rasor suddenly fell ill with the condition, a potentially lethal type of pneumonia, while in Spain in August.
The father-of-two, 40, is now fighting for his life after the lung infection exacerbated an underlying heart condition.
He had apparently contracted the disease while on a business trip to Brussels – but only started feeling ill on holiday a week later.
He was flown home but remains in hospital in a critical condition, with his wife Anna and children Jesse, seven, and Emmy, four, at his bedside.
Doctors at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridgeshire have said he must have a heart transplant to survive.
He is still having regular dialysis and is dependent on a machine to help him breathe.
Mrs Rasor, 38, from Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, said: ‘I was totally shell-shocked. Everything was normal in the first week of our holiday but Chris kept saying that he was tired, he was always feeling exhausted and thought he just needed rest.’
But a week into their family holiday, Mr Rasor, a business analyst, was rushed to an intensive care unit in Malaga after being told he was suffering from the serious infection.
Mrs Rasor, a wedding planner, said: ‘A number of people were reported to have been struck down with Legionnaires’ in Brussels, where Chris had just come back from.’
Legionella bacteria, which can lie undetected in the body for up to two weeks, is often spread through contaminated water.
It begins with mild flu-like symptoms, and progresses to a persistent cough and shortness of breath.
However, for Mr Rasor, the disease has also made a dormant heart condition worse.
Read more: Father of two needs a heart transplant
