Boy, 4, left in hospital as 74 ill from petting farm

12 May 2025

Catriona Aitken

BBC News

'Seeing your child in hospital is terrifying'

The parents of a four-year-old boy who became very unwell after a trip to a petting farm have described the "nightmare" of his symptoms developing while on holiday abroad.

Public health officials are examining 74 cases of cryptosporidium linked to visits to Cowbridge Farm Shop at Marlborough Grange Farm in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, during April.

Cryptosporidium is a parasite, often linked to with young farm animals, that can infect your bowels and cause an unpleasant and sometimes dangerous illness.

Public Health Wales (PHW) said 16 of those affected had been in hospital for at least one night.

The farm shop, which the BBC has approached for comment, has voluntarily suspended its feeding and petting sessions and is cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation, PHW said.

Michael, who loves animals, visited the farm with his grandmother Margaret during the Easter holidays

Family photo A smiling woman with light blonde hair, wearing a grey cardigan and sat on a black fold-out chair with a young smiling blonde boy wearing a blue jumper on her lap. On his lap is a white baby lamb, and both the woman and boy have their hands on the lamb. — Michael, who loves animals, visited the farm with his grandmother Margaret during the Easter holidays

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Gareth Carpenter and Kate Wiejak, from Bridgend, said their son Michael visited the farm on 11 April with his grandmother, Margaret Carpenter, while they packed for a family holiday.

Kate, 39, said: "We go every single year, we love lamb petting, it's an amazing attraction for kids."

Kate said Margaret "made sure" Michael washed his hands afterwards, and also used hand sanitiser.

Kate and Gareth say they won't take Michael to petting farm sessions in future, despite his love of animals

Family photo The back of a young blonde boy wearing a blue sweatshirt and holding a bottle of milk which is being drunk out of by a baby lamb, surrounded by other baby lambs in a pen with lots of hay. — Kate and Gareth say they won't take Michael to petting farm sessions in future, despite his love of animals

The following day, the family - including Kate's 16-year-old daughter and both of Michael's grandmothers - flew to Spain, renting a villa in Malaga with another family.

"We were looking forward to a nice holiday," said Gareth, adding they "wouldn't dream" of getting on the flight if there had been any sign of illness beforehand.

But by 14 April, Michael had begun to feel unwell, with a raised temperature and diarrhoea.

"We put it down to the food, or that he'd had too much sun as we'd been out by the pool for a couple of hours," said Gareth, 46.

"We thought, give him some sleep and a bit of Calpol and by the morning he'd be right as rain."

But Michael continued to be very unwell throughout the night and so, the following morning, they called the emergency medical services who advised them to take Michael to hospital.

"As a parent it was difficult seeing your child go through that," he told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast on Monday.

The family was on holiday in Malaga, Spain, when Michael started getting symptoms of the parasite infection

Family photo A selfie of six people in a row. In the middle is a blonde teenage girl. On the left are two older ladies in blue floral tops. On the right is a blonde woman in a striped top and sunglasses, a man with spikey brown hair, sunglasses and a black t shirt, and a young boy in a white t shirt. Behind them is a beach with the sea and a palm tree visible. — The family was on holiday in Malaga, Spain, when Michael started getting symptoms of the parasite infection

The parents said "luckily" there was a private hospital just a five minutes' drive away.

The couple paid an €850 (£719) deposit to get Michael seen - €5,000 (£4,229) in total, later claimed back through their insurance - but said staff were "absolutely amazing" despite significant language barriers.

"We literally saw a doctor within 10 minutes, I was shocked," said Kate.

Doctors said Michael had a serious infection and he spent three days in hospital.

"It was an absolute nightmare," said Kate.

Michael spent three days in hospital in Spain

Family photo Michael, a young boy with fair hair, asleep in his hospital bed — Michael spent three days in hospital in Spain

On their return to Wales that weekend, which was a bank holiday, Michael still had a "bad belly" and so they took him to see a GP on 22 April, who requested a stool sample.

"We were driving ourselves crazy," said Gareth.

"We were thinking, was it a bit of chicken he ate, or an ice cream his Nana gave him - she was feeling terrible about that - or was it something in the water":[]}