{"id":869,"date":"2026-08-11T15:24:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T15:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/08\/11\/marine-veteran-left-with-permanent-brain-injuries-after-eating-contaminated-oysters-at-chicago-steakhouse-lawsuit-claims\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T15:24:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T15:24:51","slug":"marine-veteran-left-with-permanent-brain-injuries-after-eating-contaminated-oysters-at-chicago-steakhouse-lawsuit-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/08\/11\/marine-veteran-left-with-permanent-brain-injuries-after-eating-contaminated-oysters-at-chicago-steakhouse-lawsuit-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Marine Veteran Left with Permanent Brain Injuries After Eating Contaminated Oysters at Chicago Steakhouse, Lawsuit Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Joe Belgio, 44, will likely need care for the rest of his life, his attorney said<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/cfqRZI4o7P8dUEPne07xyg7XtcM=\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)\/joe-belgio-081126-1-d323a1c9098f4d07b225bc0eb5e211d6.jpg\" alt=\"Joe BelgioCredit: GoFundMe\" title=\"Joe Belgio experienced a severe cardiac event.\" \/><figcaption><i>Joe Belgio<br \/>Credit: GoFundMe<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Joe Belgio, a Marine veteran and firefighter, fell into a coma after eating contaminated oysters at a Chicago steakhouse last year, lawsuit alleges <\/li>\n<li>The suit claims the 44-year-old dad of one has been left brain-damaged with lifelong care needs<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI want people to be aware that this could happen to anyone,\u201d said his fianc\u00e9e Melanie Stayer. \u201cLife can change so quickly\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A Chicago steakhouse chain has been hit with a lawsuit more than a year after a local veteran suffered permanent brain injuries from eating allegedly contaminated oysters during a visit.<\/p>\n<p>The 44-year-old Joe Belgio, who was a Marine and a firefighter, became ill in early July 2025, days after a family meal at a Gibsons Bar &amp; Steakhouse in Oak Brook, a Chicago suburb, according to a complaint filed on Monday, Aug. 10 and viewed by PEOPLE.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s alleged that Cicero resident Belgio, who has a toddler daughter, Carmela, with his fianc\u00e9e, Melanie Stayer, became severely ill and was left in a coma for months after eating contaminated raw oysters at the steakhouse on June 30.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/RwsVPFeQk0fl-ijTdF3KHg0m3_8=\/fit-in\/1280x960\/joe-belgio-081126-3-2ba56f83c1a049e7a4074be548d3931a.jpg\" alt=\"Joe Belgio and his daughter, CarmelaCredit: GoFundMe\" title=\"Joe Belgio experienced a severe cardiac event.\" \/><figcaption><i>Joe Belgio and his daughter, Carmela<br \/>Credit: GoFundMe<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cHe ended up getting very, very ill, and resulting in cardiac arrests where he lost consciousness and oxygen for at least eight minutes, and was revived by this very fire department, and has been in the hospital ever since,\u201d his attorney, Scott O\u2019Sullivan, told ABC affiliate <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7chicago.com\/post\/cicero-veteran-retired-firefighter-joe-belgio-suffered-brain-injury-eating-oysters-gibsons-steakhouse-oak-brook-suit\/19658602\/\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\">WLS<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint, which also named fish and seafood distributor Supreme Lobster and Seafood Company as a defendant, alleges that doctors ran tests and found several pathogens associated with shellfish contamination.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/MwJ_Na4AeIiZvl7NBMnss6gxdfg=\/fit-in\/1280x960\/gibsons-bar-steakhouse-081126-1-4791f92f7bb9468dafb78408b936bcfa.jpg\" alt=\"Gibsons Bar &amp; Steakhouse in Oak Brook, Ill.Credit: Google Maps\" title=\"Gibsons Bar &amp; Steakhouse\" \/><figcaption><i>Gibsons Bar &amp; Steakhouse in Oak Brook, Ill.<br \/>Credit: Google Maps<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The filing alleges that he contracted <em>Enteropathogenic E. coli<\/em>, <em>Plesiomonas shigelloides<\/em> and <em>Vibrio cholerae<\/em> from eating the oysters, and that Belgio\u2019s physicians determined to a \u201creasonable degree of medical certainty\u201d that his subsequent health problems were caused by consuming the oysters.<\/p>\n<p>The suit adds that he didn\u2019t consume any other raw oysters or shellfish between his visit to the steakhouse and his hospitalization.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Sullivan said the dad of one is likely to remain \u201cbedridden\u201d for the rest of his life. \u201cHe is extremely brain damaged, with very little cognitive capacity, and will need care for the rest of his life,\u201d he told WLS. Belgio is seeking damages of $50,000, plus costs, per the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/biST-ScDaqYo4pSe4yoVCkhP5XY=\/fit-in\/1280x960\/joe-belgio-081126-2-8f524fb4d2c94dfe8427d7f1265d8038.jpg\" alt=\"Joe BelgioCredit: GoFundMe\" title=\"Joe Belgio experienced a severe cardiac event.\" \/><figcaption><i>Joe Belgio<br \/>Credit: GoFundMe<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThis is a man who deployed. He ran into burning buildings, and you thought he was out of the line of fire, and really, he wasn\u2019t,\u201d Stayer told the outlet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s one of the rarest people you will ever meet in your life. He was a God-fearing man. Success to him was having a family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Loved ones paid tribute to Belgio in a <a class=\"null\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/help-joe-fight-for-his-life-veterans-road-to-recovery\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow\">GoFundMe<\/a> fundraiser, calling him a man who has \u201cdevoted his life to protecting others,\u201d including serving in Iraq during his time with the Marines.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, members of the Cicero Fire Department, which Belgio used to work for, have launched the <a class=\"null\" href=\"https:\/\/joebelgio.com\/\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow\">Joe Belgio Recovery Fund<\/a> to further help aid his recovery.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJoe has continued to show meaningful progress, but he urgently needs specialized inpatient neurological rehabilitation to keep moving forward,\u201d the fund\u2019s website states.<\/p>\n<p>Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/people-news-daily-newsletter-sign-up-8692701\">PEOPLE\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n<p>Stayer, meanwhile, hopes to raise awareness of his plight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want people to be aware that this could happen to anyone,\u201d she told WLS. \u201cThis was a casual day with a casual man at a restaurant that he wanted to celebrate life with his family, and life can change so quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>PEOPLE reached out to the Joe Belgio Recovery Fund, Gibsons Bar &amp; Steakhouse and Supreme Lobster and Seafood Company for comment but did not immediately hear back.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joe Belgio, 44, will likely need care for the rest of his life, his attorney said Joe BelgioCredit: GoFundMe NEED TO KNOW Joe Belgio, a Marine veteran and firefighter, fell into a coma after eating contaminated oysters at a Chicago steakhouse last year, lawsuit alleges The suit claims the 44-year-old dad of one has been [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-everything-else"],"wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","cvmm-medium":"","cvmm-medium-plus":"","cvmm-portrait":"","cvmm-medium-square":"","cvmm-large":"","cvmm-small":"","full":""},"categories_names":{"1":{"name":"Everything Else","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/category\/everything-else\/"}},"tags_names":[],"comments_number":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}