Family members fall ill after swim in Lake Belton

James Hernandez and his family visit Cedar Ridge Park on Lake Belton every year, but during their Fourth of July trip this year, he and six other family members who swam in the lake later fell ill.

Hernandez thinks something in the water caused the illness, but the lake’s manager says routine sampling shows the water quality is within state guidelines and says no reports of illness following visits to the park have been filed.

The Bell County Health Department also says it has not been made aware of anyone complaining of illness after visiting the lake.

Hernandez says he plans to make that call to let officials know what happened to his family soon.

Hernandez says his son got sick hours after enjoying the water.

“I was like ‘OK, we all ate the same thing,’ but none of us were throwing up like he was.”

“When you were swimming did you like swallow some water?” Hernandez said he asked his son.

“And he pointed at me and was like ‘yeah’ in the process of throwing up at the same time.”

Over the course of the weekend, six others in his group had similar symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea, including Hernandez himself.

He says he’s heard from other people in Temple who say they had similar issues in recent weeks after visiting Cedar Ridge Park.