68-year-old Richard Porter faced several health issues during the last year of his life. He had cancer and gastrointestinal bleeding that hospitalized him at Via Christi Saint Francis in Wichita, Kansas.

Porter’s widow, Lois, says he was very sick and then things got even worse.

“He really should have been getting better. Sure enough they did a blood culture and that’s when we found out he had listeria.”

One of Porter’s doctors, Doctor Tom Moore, says while the bacteria did not play a part in porter’s ultimate death, it did make him a lot sicker.

Dr. Moore said, “The listeria was not in any way related to the condition in which he was presented. It was a complete surprise and one which could not be explained. “

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment was soon calling Porter’s wife to investigate. Dr. Moore said at that point it was an isolated case, but would turn into the first of the outbreak.

“They just asked questions about where I bought food, where he had eaten, where I had bought my groceries,” Lois Porter said.

Now, more than six months since his death, KDHE found the link, contaminated Blue Bell ice cream served at the hospital.

Lois Porter tells Eyewitness News she doesn’t hold any resentment against the ice cream company or the hospital. But she does say she’s extra careful about what she eats and is more concerned about contamination when it comes to food.