SC husband contracts illness from hot tub and dies, wife claims. She’s now suing company
The wife of a man who died after allegedly contracting an illness from a hot tub he purchased is suing the company that sold it and the pool maintenance company.
On behalf of her late husband, Kelly Anne Van Der Plaats is suing Hot Tub Taxi, Oceanside Pools and Darius Clark over negligence and wrongful death. Van Der Plaats filed the lawsuit on Jan. 15, 2025.
In 2023, Kelly Anne and her husband, Wayne Anthony, purchased a hot tub from Hot Tub Taxi, which was then delivered to their Conway area home, according to the lawsuit. On Oct. 10, 2023, the hot tub exposed the couple to Legionella bacteria, the suit said. The couple then began showing symptoms on Oct. 17.
Symptoms included a hard time breathing, cough, sore throat and congestion. The Van Der Plaatses were both admitted into the Conway Medical Center on Oct. 20. Two days later, Wayne died, the suit said.
Hot tubs are an ideal environment for Legionella bacteria to grow and it can spread through water vapor in the air, the lawsuit stated. The bacteria becomes airborne which people then breath in. Smokers, people older than 50 and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to develop pneumonia from Legionella.
The lawsuit alleges Hot Tub Taxi and its owner Clark acted negligently by not properly informing the Van Der Plaats about how to care for the hot tub, the lawsuit said. This includes how to test and monitor the water and about the dangers of Legionella among other actions.
Clark told The Sun News he remembers delivering the hot tub to the couple in August 2023 and is not sure how things went wrong.
“From what I’m gathering it’s appearing they didn’t take care of (the hot tub),” Clark said. “It’s a sad and unfortunate situation and I’m not sure why it’s taken this direction.”
The wife also alleges Oceanside Pools, a pool management company, was negligent because it did not properly disinfect and clean the hot tub, among other actions, according to the lawsuit.
Oceanside Pools’s owner James McKee declined to comment.
The lawsuit alleges the negligence of the companies led to Wayne’s wrongful death and Kelly Anne Van Der Plaats is entitled to compensatory and punitive damages. She is requesting actual, consequential, compensatory and punitive damages determined by a jury.
