Mushroom deaths Victoria: Ian Wilkinson could face a long road to recovery

A leading specialist has revealed a potential pathway to recovery for Korumburra pastor Ian Wilkinson who was left fighting for life after eating a deadly mushroom meal.

The Korumburra pastor who was poisoned and remained in a critical state in hospital could face a long road to recovery if he underwent a liver transplant.

Recovery from a “catastrophic sudden liver injury” could take months longer than routine chronic liver diseases, according to gastroenterologist and liver specialist Dr Nathan Connelly from Moonee Valley Specialist Care, who said the difference between the two are “chalk and cheese”.

Ian Wilkinson, his wife Heather Wilkinson, her sister Gail Patterson and husband Don Patterson were poisoned at a lunch in Leongatha on July 29.

The lunch, believed to be a beef Wellington dish, was cooked by Mr and Mrs Patterson’s former daughter-in-law Erin Patterson.

Don, Gail and Heather all died in hospital.

The Herald Sun is not suggesting that Ms Patterson intentionally poisoned her guests, only that police are investigating the matter.

Police revealed in the days after the poisoning that Mr Wilkinson was awaiting a liver transplant.

Korumburra pastor Ian Wilkinson and wife Heather Wilkinson. Picture: Facebook

Death cap mushrooms contain several heat stable toxins — which means they cannot be destroyed by cooking — that are particularly toxic to the liver, kidney and gut.

Amatoxins are the main toxins that cause the death of liver cells, which can lead to “irreversible” liver failure where the only way a patient can survive is through a transplant.

Dr Connelly said people who eat death cap mushrooms get “very sick, very quickly”.

“It doesn’t take a lot of eating [death cap mushrooms] to make you very sick,” he said.

“Initially you might have patients with amatoxin poisoning get this acute gastro-like illness which they might confuse with routine food poisoning, so things like vomiting and diarrhoea would be the symptoms,” he said.

“A couple of days later they become jaundice.

“The liver tests then become very abnormal and then the liver can’t detoxify the blood properly and they often go into a coma”.

Moreover, Dr Connelly said severe poisoning can also bring about further complications along the way.

Don and Gail Patterson passed away after ingesting poisonous mushrooms. Picture: Supplied

“It’s a lot to do with how bad the liver is and whether there are any complications. It also depends if kidneys have failed and whether they get secondary infections or other side effects, how much brain swelling they get, all these factors determine whether they can hang on long enough to arrange a liver transplant,” Dr Connelly said.

“There can be lots of pitfalls along the way in the time they are waiting for a transplant and with the surgery itself and the recovery afterwards.

“When you’re doing transplants on people who have an acute process like mushroom poisoning or paracetamol poisoning, they generally are a bit less likely to be successful than if you’re it doing on someone who’s been sick for years”.

“It can be a bit of a race to see how quick they can get a transplant before some other complication takes over”.

The Austin hospital provides liver transplants for people who live in Victoria and Tasmania as well as intestinal transplants for all of Australia.

This week Mr Wilkinson’s family said he was in a “critical but stable condition” and were “deeply moved” by the community’s support.

A day of prayer will be held at the Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church at Korumburra on Saturday.