Mushroom poisoning: Secret plan for ‘death cap’ lunch sole survivor to honour wife in Leongatha, Victoria
EXCLUSIVE
Secret plans are in the works for the sole survivor of the deadly mushroom lunch to honor his wife after her death.
Pastor Ian Wilkinson was the only person to survive the poisonous beef wellington served by stay-at-home mother Erin Patterson in eastern Victoria on July 29.
His wife Heather, 66, and her sister Gail and husband Don Patterson were invited to lunch as part of a ‘mediation’ met to discuss Mrs Patterson’s relationship with her estranged husband Simon, who backed out at the last minute.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal Ms Wilkinson will be honored in a public service in Korumburra on October 4.
Ian Wilkinson and Heather Wilkinson (both pictured). Ian Wilkinson has been released from hospital after spending weeks recovering from a poison mushroom lunch that killed three others, including his wife
Erin Patterson is pictured outside her home, days after serving the killer meal
Members of the close-knit Korumburra Baptist Church met at a Korumburra bakery on Monday to plan the secret service.
The commemoration is expected to be similar to the one for the Pattersons on August 31, when more than 450 mourners gathered at the Korumburra Recreation Center to pay their respects to the beloved couple.
Mr. Wilkinson has not been seen in public since his release from Austin Hospital and it remains unknown whether he has spoken to homicide detectives.
It also remains unknown whether his wife was buried while he was still recovering in hospital.
The Pattersons had been buried at a private service while he was still receiving treatment.
The 68-year-old is expected to address mourners at the service, as Simon Patterson did for his parents last month.
Mr Wilkinson’s release from hospital is being treated as a miracle by his community.
His family confirmed on Saturday that he is making ‘significant progress’ at home.
Erin’s former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson (pictured) died a week after attending the luncheon
Simon Patterson paid tribute to his parents at a public memorial last month
There was a large police presence at the Patterson memorial
“This milestone marks a moment of enormous relief and gratitude for Ian and the entire Wilkinson family,” they said.
“The Wilkinson family would like to express their sincere thanks to Leongatha, Dandenong and Austin Hospitals for their continued dedication and exceptional care which played a vital role in Ian’s recovery.
“The expertise and compassion of the medical team have been a source of comfort and hope throughout this journey.”
The family also thanked the local community, including church members and other loved ones.
“This collective kindness has been a pillar of strength for Ian and the family, reinforcing the sense of unity and compassion that defines our community,” they said.
Daily Mail Australia revealed last month that Mr Wilkinson likely only survived because he was rushed to a hospital known for his illness expertise in the treatment of patients suffering from poisonings.
The final resting place of Don and Gail Patterson
A hospital insider told Daily Mail Australia that Mr Wilkinson had been transported to Austin Hospital – recognized as the hospital for Victoria’s most seriously ill patients – for a specific reason which is believed to have saved his life.
“The Austin wasn’t the natural hospital to go to. From Leongatha, the nearest hospital is Monash Medical Center, which is where they normally go. They actually went as far as they could to the hospital,” the source said.
‘The main intensive care unit, and you need the best, you go to The Alfred or Royal Melbourne. They didn’t do that either. The state’s poison control center is in Austin, so that’s why he went there.
“That means they are more interested in handling the mushrooms than in the intensive care part of it.”
Erin Patterson had previously told police the mushrooms used in the lunch were a mixture of button mushrooms bought at a supermarket and dried mushrooms bought months earlier at an Asian supermarket in Melbourne.
In her statement, which was leaked to the media by an unknown source, Ms. Patterson said she plated the meal and let her guests choose their own plates.
She said she took the last remaining plate and ate a portion, later handing the leftovers to the hospital’s toxicologists for examination.
A drying appliance she owned was later dumped at the local landfill out of fear that her estranged husband would blame her for the death of his parents and gain custody of their two children, she said.
Erin has denied any wrongdoing and Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting she deliberately poisoned her four family members.