“ It didn’t look like it was contaminated or anything wrong with it,” she said.

About 30 minutes after swimming, however, her cousins developed fevers and began vomiting. Williams, meanwhile, had suffered a minor abrasion on her knee while exiting the pool, and her knee quickly became infected.

Within hours, her knee began to burn. Within a day, it had swollen to the point where Williams could barely walk.

“It got to the point where you had to practically carry me because I couldn’t walk,” Williams said.

Williams was diagnosed with MRSA at the hospital. MRSA is a potentially deadly bacterial infection, known to be resistant to many kinds of antibiotics, often requiring amputation to cure.

Sometimes called a “flesh eating bacteria,” MRSA is methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterial staph infection.

“I didn’t know what MRSA was,” Williams said. “I didn’t know it was a bacterial flesh-eating disease that possibly could kill you, or, you know, amputate you.”

In the month following her diagnosis, Williams has now “had three invasive surgeries, remains on strong IV antibiotics, requires athome nursing care, and must use a highly restrictive right leg brace and walker,” Johnson said.

“She continues to endure unbearable pain that keeps her awake at night.”

According to her lawsuit, which was filed in the Washtenaw County Circuit Court on July 29, the Residence Inn failed to properly disinfect the pool.

Williams’ attorney pointed to an inspection report from Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), following the incident.

A July 8 report filed by EGLE noted that two consecutive high standard plate counts had been received earlier in June.

According to the lawsuit’s complaint, on June 13 and July 12, “the hotel knew that its swimming pool had a Standard Plate Count that exceeded 200 CFU/ml, which indicates a dangerous level of bacteria present in the swimming pool and poor disinfection.”

The lawsuit also states that there were gaps in the hotel’s monthly operational reports, in which state law requires the hotel to record daily water testing results.

The EGLE report stated that review of daily logs showed no chlorine or pH issues reported for June 24, and no readings logged for June 25. On June 26, the daily log showed zero for chlorine. EGLE’s own July 8 inspection also tested zero for chlorine.

Williams and her family stayed at the Residence Inn on June 24-25.

“Alexis started developing this infection within several hours of coming into contact with this water,” said Michael Freifeld, an attorney with Williams' legal team.

“We have no doubt, given the records we have and the experts that we are going to hire, that the infection Alexis experienced, and is experiencing, was clearly connected to the pool.”

Attorney Ven Johnson released the following statement: “The hotel had these test results but chose to ignore them and keep the pool open. This was not an accident, but a blatant disregard for public safety … We’ve filed a civil lawsuit to hold the Residence Inn accountable, not only for the suffering Alexis has experienced, but to make sure no other hotel guest is exposed to such recklessness.

We encourage other hotel guests who became ill or experienced similar symptoms after swimming in the Residence Inn pool to contact Ven Johnson Law.”