A father has described his family’s horrific experience as they feared for his four-year-old son’s life when he was infected with a parasite after visiting a Welsh farm.

Gareth Carpenter said his son Michael Carpenter suddenly fell ill days after visiting Cowbridge Farm Shop with his grandmother on Friday, April 11. Tests later revealed he had been infected with a parasite called cryptosporidium, which lives in the intestines of infected animals and humans.

Public Health Wales has confirmed that at least 28 people have been infected after visiting the farm in the Vale of Glamorgan. It is now investigating the outbreak.

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Gareth, 46, said it was a few days later on Monday, April 14, when Michael fell sick. They had travelled to Malaga in Spain on holiday with Gareth’s partner Kate Wiejak.

Initially, they thought Michael just had “too much sun” but Gareth said it soon became evident it was more serious and the four-year-old was taken to hospital.

It was only when they got back home that further tests done on their GP’s recommendation showed Michael had contracted a cryptosporidium infection. Stay informed on the latest health news by signing up to our newsletter here

Gareth said: “He’s had chicken pox, he’s had flu, he has had viruses, he had many, many, many things as you can imagine as kids do when they mix in with other children, but I’ve never, ever seen him that ill before.”

Michael’s visit to the farm with his grandmother was the part of a lamb and calf-feeding experience.

At first, the farm had posted a brief statement in which it announced the closure of its petting and feeding experiences due to “unforeseen circumstances” but the post has since been removed from its Facebook page.

The parasite cryptosporidium lives in the faeces of animals that have been infected and can lead to stomach illness in humans with symptoms such as watery diarrhoea, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting and fever.

Anyone can catch the virus but it is particularly common in children aged 1-5. The UK Health Security Agency says the most common cause of infection is “touching infected poo and then putting your unwashed hands near your mouth”. It says that it is easily preventable by handwashing after any animal contact on farms.

Public Health Wales said the farm has now voluntarily stopped these activities and is fully cooperating with the investigation.

Cowbridge Farm Shop has been contacted for a comment.

Gareth described Michael’s symptoms, saying: “Through the Monday he had a really horrendous night, he was up with my partner all night [with] watery diarrhoea and a temperature.

“So first thing Tuesday morning, she started hunting around for doctors. We were really, really lucky that there was a specialist child’s hospital, a five-minute drive from where the villa was called VITAS and the staff were absolutely amazing.”

At the hospital, staff conducted a number of tests on Michael including a urine sample, a stool sample, a blood sample, a chest x-ray, and a stomach x-ray.

Gareth said: “They came back and basically said that he had a blood poisoning. A sepsis, basically they diagnosed him with, which was pretty serious.

“There’s something called ‘blood markers’, and they say anything above 50 is classed as a serious infection. His was 307 or something. So they said it’s critical.

“They took him straight in, admitted him, put him on a drip. There were some antibiotics, there was some paracetamol to help with his temperature, and there was whatever it is they put him on for hydration. So the three things basically.”

Michael had to stay in the hospital for nearly three days, while continuing to be on a drip almost the entire time, which left his parents worried.

Gareth said: “He was horrific when he was there. Really, really, worried me and me and my partner, Kate. Just curled up. We had to put him back in nappies, just literally leaking. He was just leaking from them. It was horrendous, stomach pains and cramps.”

The stress put on by the language barrier, trying to find the cause of the situation, and figuring out procedures with insurance exacerbated the situation.

After Michael was discharged from the hospital three days later, his family were still left worried as they thought they might have to take Michael back to the hospital again.

Though the four-year-old was nursed back to health and the medical staff was thorough in its treatment in Spain, there wasn’t any word on the cause of Michael’s illness. Therefore, his parents took him to their GP in Bridgend.

Gareth said: “We took him to our local GP. He said, ‘Look, can I get a stool sample as soon as possible?’ We got a stool sample the following day and took it back up to them.

“They obviously analysed it and then we didn’t even hear back from the doctors. The environmental health phoned us. So that’s when we actually found out exactly what it was.”

Though Michael is doing better now, he is still experiencing some stomach pains.

Gareth said: “He’s okay now, yes. We’ve been concerned for a number of days because obviously, it can flare up again. You can have it for 10 days.

“He’s had some stomach pains he still says now he’s got some stomach pains now but in himself he’s fine. Put it this way a thousand percent better than what he was originally.”

Michael’s grandmother, Margaret, who was with him at the farm said: “We were told to go into separate pens and given a bottle and then little sheep were put into different pens with people, and we just fed them the bottles. which was really cute. It was a lovely thing to do. My little grandson was loving it, we were stroking them, I picked them up. They were just adorable.”

Margaret was “mortified” when she found out that this visit had led to Michael being sick.

She said: “I was absolutely mortified. One, because I’d taken him and I felt like even though I followed all the rules, sanitising, I took him to the little toilet afterwards to wash his hands. Even though I know I’d done everything, obviously, I still felt so guilty. So awful that I put him at risk without even knowing.”

Another father, whose daughter got sick following a visit to the farm, has also shared their experience with WalesOnline. You can read that by clicking here.