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Father-Son Yankee Stadium Trip Turned Fatal During Legionnaires' Outbreak

By Eddie Small | April 26, 2016 7:33am
 Matt Pilon and his father Joseph Pilon took a trip to Yankee Stadium in July during the outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the South Bronx, and Joseph came down with the illness soon after.
Matt Pilon and his father Joseph Pilon took a trip to Yankee Stadium in July during the outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the South Bronx, and Joseph came down with the illness soon after.
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Matt Pilon

SOUTH BRONX —  A father-son trip to Yankee Stadium last summer turned fatal after the pair stayed in a hotel at the epicenter of the Legionnaires' disease outbreak that killed 16 people and sickened more than 130, DNAinfo New York has learned.

Minnesota resident Joseph Pilon, 71, touched down in The Bronx on July 22, 2015, with his son Matt Pilon, as part of a long-awaited trek to East Coast baseball stadiums that they'd been planning since Matt was 16.

"I just finally said, Dad, we've got to do this. Let’s make time. Let’s get out and see two of the more iconic ballparks in the country: Yankee Stadium and Fenway," the 35-year-old son recalled. 

Little did the pair know that their stay at the Opera House Hotel would put them in the building city officials later identified as the source of the worst outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in city history. Matt Pilon is part of a lawsuit against the hotel.

"It’s horrible that that’s what led to him dying, and there is some guilt around that — that, hey, if we didn’t take the trip, my dad would still be around," Pilon said.

They had a great time in the neighborhood around the ballpark and catching a game, and Pilon said he remembers the Yankees beating the Orioles. The father and son walked to the stadium from the hotel and stayed in New York for about two days before heading up to Boston, Pilon said.

Although Joseph Pilon started getting fatigued as their vacation was winding down, Matt Pilon attributed this more to general wear-and-tear from the trip than to something like Legionnaires' disease.

However, once they were back in Minnesota, his father's health deteriorated quickly.

Pilon called his dad almost immediately after their return to the Midwest "just to say how much fun it was and what a great time it was to spend time together," he said, "and he just said, 'God, I’m just really tired.'"

His father spent the day in bed and by the next day was having problems with diarrhea and vomiting.

The older man collapsed and was taken to the hospital July 29, where he started struggling to breathe, Pilon said.

He was diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease a few days later, and he remained sedated and unresponsive until Aug. 20 at 7:28 p.m., when he died, according to Pilon.

"The Legionella bacteria had spread through his body, and so they told us that, essentially, there’s nothing they could do for him," Pilon said. "We had to make the decision as a family to take him off the ventilator."

"My mom, my sister, our spouses, close family were in the room," he continued, "and essentially watched him breathe his last breath."

Pilon said he had no idea about the Legionnaires' disease outbreak in the South Bronx during his and his father's visit to the borough.

His lawyer, Ron Katter — who is representing multiple plaintiffs sickened by Legionnaires' disease in a lawsuit against the Opera House Hotel — said negligence at the hotel is to blame for Joseph Pilon's death.

But the city, which is not named in the lawsuit, could also have done more to alert the public about the potential risks so they would have time to get tested, Katter said.

The Health Department sent out a news release July 29 announcing it was investigating an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the South Bronx, and a July 31 email from City Hall listed the Opera House Hotel as a contaminated site. That email said at the time that there were no reported cases of the disease among guests at the hotel.

Katter said he respected that the city did not want to cause a panic during the Legionnaires' disease outbreak but maintained that Joseph Pilon could still be alive if he knew earlier that he might have been infected.

"Certainly, it could have saved a life," Katter said. "Maybe if he knew he could have been exposed, he would have pointed it out to his doctor sooner."

The city was still investigating individual cases of Legionella on July 22 and had not determined that there was an outbreak yet, according to the Health Department.

Officials alerted the public as soon as they confirmed the outbreak on July 29, and non-New York City residents who stayed at the hotel were notified of it on Aug. 3, the Health Department said.

As of Monday, there have been 16 reported deaths and 133 illnesses as a result of the city's Legionnaires' outbreak, according to the Health Department. The outbreak spurred changes to the city's regulations of cooling towers, which can spread Legionella through contaminated water droplets.

The Opera House Hotel declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Joseph Pilon taught English for about 20 years, worked out at least five days a week and was an avid racquetball player and basketball referee, Matt Pilon said.

Loyalty and hard work were values that were extremely important to his father, who always made a point to tell Pilon and his sister that he loved them and was proud of them.

"My dad gave really good hugs," Pilon said, "and you always just felt how much he loved you."

"To me as a kid, and even as an adult," he continued, "those are things you always remember."