The East Lothian-based carer was told by her GP to urgently get to hospital, where she stayed for five days with severe gastroenteritis and dehydration. Shelley, who is a member of the swim group Salty Sisters, underwent several weeks of appointments that led to a final diagnosis of cryptosporidium – a diarrheal disease contracted by swimming in contaminated water. Shelley said: “I’m no longer swimming every day, and I’m more cautious about getting into the water.
The sea is where I go for my mental health, to get away from stress of being a carer. “The first thing I do now is check outfalls. That’s good, but it comes from a place of fear.
I shouldn’t be doing this. I should be checking the tide, not when was it heavy rain and if there were any spills. “It impacted my son’s mental health.
He has OCD, ADHD and autism and I’m his carer. My illness caused a lot of anxieties and stress.” Shelley was speaking as a new report showed the true extent of Scottish Water’s sewage pollution could be as high as 364,629 sewage discharges in 2024, due to missing data The report by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) highlighted the many financial, environmental and public health failures of the water industry in Scotland and across the wider UK.
It showed that: SAS said its annual Water Quality Report highlighted that Scottish Water recorded 23,498 discharges for a total of 208,377 hours in 2024. However, it claims those figures only account for 6.7% of Scottish Water’s t.
