'I needed heart surgery after swimming in polluted sea'

Sewage spill levels at record high leaving surfers critically ill

- HOLLY EVANS

A woman who was left needing heart surgery after developing blood poisoning is one of hundreds to fall ill after swimming in the UK’s polluted waters as sewage spills reached a decade high last year.

Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) received 1,853 sickness reports through its service app in 2024, with 331 people having to see a doctor and 79 per cent reporting that medical professionals had attributed their illness to sewage pollution.

Hundreds were diagnosed with gastroenteritis, chest infections and serious bacterial infections, with some having to be hospitalised. Overall, the reported instances of sickness led to nine years’ worth of sick days, which is estimated to have cost the economy £493,200.

SAS’s annual Water Quality Report revealed that sewage was pumped into British waterways 592,478 times for 4.7 million hours last year, despite the shareholders of private water companies being paid £1.2bn. The water industry has failed to hit its pollution reduction targets and recorded 2,489 spills in 2024 – more than double the target set by the Environment Agency.

In one instance, Suzi Finlayson, a 42-year-old mother, was left requiring open-heart surgery after becoming critically ill from swimming in the water in Bognor Regis. Ms Finlayson, an avid sea swimmer, developed a blood infection which led to lifethreatening infective endocarditis.