Despite her lengthy hospital visit, doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with Taylor.
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Claims that a teenage tennis player was poisoned to sabotage her run in the Wimbledon juniors’ tournament have been branded “laughable” by experts. The 18-year-old reportedly became sick and was forced to drop out midway through her quarterfinal match.
She got to the quarter-final but then the next thing she is lying in intensive care close to death.
Gabrielle “was staying in a completely healthy environment” during the tournament and wouldn’t likely have been accidentally exposed to the bacteria, she said.
In a statement, police said a woman fell ill on July 6 and it was investigating “an allegation of poisoning with intent to endanger life (or) cause grievous bodily harm”.
The allegation of poisoning was received by officers on 5 August, according to the force, which said the incident took place at an address in Wimbledon between 1 and 10 July.
The Metropolitan Police are investigating the cause of her illness.
In severe cases it can cause organ failure and integral bleeding.
Since her unexpected ill health Taylor has returned to training. It’s a very rare disease that is usually only spotted in animals, and in fact, it’s so rare that her family doesn’t believe she caught it accidentally.
Another professor said the bacteria is hard to find, especially compared to more common bacteria like Salmonella.
“Trying to find leptospirosis, it’s a much more hard task”, Karatzas said.
Leptospirosis is a type of bacterial infection spread by animals. It takes between five and 14 days, and in rare cases up to a month, before symptoms appear.
Her mother added that Gabriella was very conscious about what she ate, and a Wimbledon spokesman confirmed that she had not eaten at the player’s facilities during the competition. Goris said: “If you really wanted to poison someone, you would choose another method”.
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Police are investigating whether Gabriella Taylor, 18 was targeted – forcing her to pull out of the girls’ Championships during her quarter final match. On Wednesday she tweeted a photo of herself on a tennis court containing a caption that expressed her gratitude for being back on the court and that she was taking every chance by stride.
