Oysters seem to be the seafood appetizer of choice for most people these days. However, it recently cost an armed services veteran in ways that are hard to comprehend.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Joe Belgio, who served in the Marines in addition to being a firefighter, was visiting a Chicago steakhouse, Gibsons Steakhouse & Bar in Oak Brook, back in 2025. During his visit, the ex-Marine decided to try the oysters. But unfortunately for Belgio, the batch of oysters that he was served was contaminated.
After eating the raw oysters, Belgio fell ill and was stuck in a coma for "months"
"He ended up getting very, very ill. Resulting in cardiac arrests where he lost consciousness and oxygen for at least eight minutes. He was revived by this very fire department, and has been in the hospital ever since," Belgio's attorney, Scott O'Sullivan, told WLS.
The court filing revealed that the ex-firefighter contracted Enteropathogenic E. coli, Plesiomonas shigelloides, and Vibrio cholerae from eating the oysters after visiting the restaurant. The contraction of the virus ultimately left him with permanent brain damage. It also adds that the doctors who treated Belgio concluded, to a "reasonable degree of medical certainty," that the oysters were the catalyst for him coming in contact with the virus.
In addition to the steakhouse, fish and seafood distributor Supreme Lobster and Seafood Company has also been named in the lawsuit. As the entity that allegedly provided the contaminated oysters to Gibsons.
Belgio's Fiancée Wants to Bring Awareness to Situation
Belgio is seeking $50,000 plus legal fees as compensation. His fiancée, Melanie Stayer, says that she and her husband-to-be want to bring awareness to the situation. And that it is not exclusive to Joe; food contamination can happen to anyone
"I want people to be aware that this could happen to anyone," she told WLS. "This was a casual day with a casual man at a restaurant that he wanted to celebrate life with his family, and life can change so quickly."
She also added: "This is a man who deployed. He ran into burning buildings, and you thought he was out of the line of fire, and really, he wasn't. He's one of the rarest people you will ever meet in your life. He was a God-fearing man. Success to him was having a family."
