Mum, 38, who ate listeria-infected sandwich thought she was going to die

A charity volunteer feared for her life when she ate infected sandwiches during a stay in an NHS hospital.

Tanya Marston, 38, was rushed back to hospital for treatment after she had become infected with listeria, a deadly bacterium which causes food poisoning.

The mum-of-one ate chicken mayonnaise, ham and cheese sandwiches during a month-long stay at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent, where she was being treated for Crohn’s disease.

But one day after being discharged, the charity worker suffered a high temperature.

Blood tests had showed listeria was in her body.

"I’m so grateful my temperature spiked. If it hadn’t, I’d have gone home without any blood test and the listeria might not have been spotted in time. I could have died," Ms Marston told Mail on Sunday.

Tanya Marston contracted Listeria from the sandwiches, it is believed (JIM BENNETT)

Since the mum's scare, had appeared in six seriously ill in-patients. , who were being treated at hospitals in Manchester and Liverpool, died.

And all those who fell ill had eaten the sandwiches prepared by Staffordshire-based firm The Good Food Chain, which supplies 43 of 135 NHS hospital trusts across England.

The primary source has been traced to North Country Cooked Meats from Salford, Greater Manchester, which supplies meat to The Good Food Chain.

The mother, from Ashford, Kent, said she could have died if she hadn't had a blood test before she was discharged from hospital (JIM BENNETT)

Dr Paul Stevens, medical director at William Harvey, told Ms Marston that medics believed her illness was linked to a cluster of listeria cases in northwest England.

The official letter of apology from Dr Stevens said genetic testing "has confirmed that the type of listeria [found in her blood] was identical to that already isolated from sandwiches supplied to our caterers by The Good Food Chain.

"This obviously makes it most likely that you acquired the bug from sandwiches given to you by the hospital."

Listeria can causes food poisoning and, in some cases, be fatal (Getty Images/Universal Images Gr)

But Ms Marston, who lives in Ashford, added: "It looks like health officials have tried to play this outbreak down.

"If they are being evasive, that makes me a bit angry."

Listeria causes listeriosis, which typically causes vomiting, diarrhoea, chills and other symptoms.

But more serious complications can develop in those with weakened immune systems, babies, the elderly and pregnant women.