A mum-of-two ended up seriously ill in hospital after catching a parasitic bug which has been traced to a popular swimming pool. 

Stephanie Sim, 32, caught the cryptosporidium bug after caring for her sick children who suffered from the same illness following a trip to the pool last month. 

She took her 10-year-old son Daryl and two-year-old daughter Kendal to Greenock's Waterfront Leisure Centre swimming pool for a treat on September 5. 

But Stephanie began to fear something was wrong when Daryl was sent home from school the following day with the illness. 

Kendal soon became unwell and it was only a matter of weeks before Stephanie too became violently ill with the parasitic bug. 

Stephanie, from Greenock, Inverclyde, is now suing the operators of the pool, Inverclyde Leisure. 

She said: "I was feeling worse and worse so I ended up going to A&E. 

"I was having sweats, I was flushed, going from warm to cold. I thought I was dying. 

"I was rushed to another hospital and they admitted me to a ward. They tested me for everything, including HIV. 

"It turned out it was cryptosporidium. I was put into isolation. I couldn't see my children or anyone. 

"I was so ill and I thought I was going off my head for five days. 

"I lost two stone - I was nine-and-a-half stone and I am now seven-and-a-half. I am only starting to recover now. 

"When I was leaving, the doctor who saw me said that he couldn't believe how unwell I was when I first came into the hospital." 

Cryptosporidium is a parasitic bug that can cause severe diarrhoea and even dehydration, vomiting and weight loss. 

In some cases, it can be life-threatening. 

Stephanie, who works in the food delivery industry, has been unable to return to work for fear of contamination. 

She added: "It has been really, really tough for us all." 

Public health officers from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) contacted Stephanie and told her that she is just one of seven people who caught the bug after swimming at the pool last month. 

Bianca Johnson, also from Greenock, took her 19-month-old son Zac to the pool with mum Barbara on the same day as Stephanie's family. 

Zac was another victim of the crippling bug. 

Bianca said: "I was told in a phone call that there was 'an episode' - somebody had had an accident in the pool and it was not reported to them. 

"They didn't know about it quickly enough. But what did they do, did they empty the pool and clean it? 

"I am very angry about this. My son was ill for a week. 

"When my mum contacted the Waterfront initially they said that it was tested four times a day and there wasn't a problem. 

"They never even got back to her." 

Solicitor Patrick McGuire, who is acting for Stephanie, said: "The law in Scotland is very strong on this. We have a mum who was very seriously ill indeed. 

"I also have real concerns about what happened with regards to public health. Why were people not alerted? 

"This is a serious public health issue. 

"They should have put something out there so that people could be tracked down and alerted to it and get the help they needed. 

"This violent bug spreads very quickly." 

But council officials insist there is no further danger to the public following the health incident at the pool.

An environmental health spokesman for Inverclyde Council said: "We have carried out a thorough inspection of the pool and are satisfied the water treatment system and processes in place are robust and functioning as they are intended. 

"This would appear to be an isolated outbreak connected with a single point source and we have no concerns about the quality of the pool water at the Waterfront Leisure Centre." 

David McCorkindale, head of leisure and community services at Inverclyde Leisure, said: "Inverclyde Council in conjunction with the health board have now concluded their investigation, with the outcome being that no further action is required by Inverclyde Leisure and there is no risk to bathers."