A MAJOR update has been give on a pastor who is fighting for his life after being served a poisonous mushroom meal.
Ian Wilkinson has been in hospital since eating the deadly beef Wellington served to him by Erin Patterson.
News.com.au.Erin Patterson has denied any wrongdoing[/caption]
NineIan Wilkinson (right) is fighting for his life[/caption]
The deadly lunch was served on July 29
During a church service to pray for Ian, a church leader revealed Ian is needing “less medical support” as he continues to await a liver transplant in Melbourne’s Austin Hospital.
The promising update comes as locals from Korumburra have begun offering their organs for Ian’s transplant.
Patterson, 48, invited Gail and Don Patterson, her former in-laws, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian to her home in Leongatha, Australia.
The mum-of-two reportedly held the deadly gathering on July 29 in a bid to try and win back her estranged ex-husband Simon Patterson.
After eating the meal, the guests became violently ill and Gail and Don, both 70, and Heather, 66, later died.
Homicide detectives confirmed Erin is a suspect in the mystery case as the mum-of-two cooked the meal at her home – but did not get sick.
The pal told Daily Mail Australia: “She wanted to get back with Simon and the family didn’t want Simon to get back with her.
“This wasn’t just a lunch, it was an intervention with the pastor as mediator. That’s why this lunch happened.
“Simon was supposed to go there for lunch but he pulled out in the last minute otherwise he would be in that death bed too.
“The people who died, Gail, Don and the Wilkinsons, were talking to them because they’re heavily ingrained with the church and they wanted to make sure she was right to resume a relationship with Simon.
“She was basically petitioning to get back with him and the family didn’t think that was a good move.”
11 years ago, two other men died after consuming death cap mushrooms after mistaking them for straw mushrooms.
Chef Liu Jun, 38, and kitchen hand Tsou Hsiang, 52, died of liver damage after eating a meal with the death caps.
University of Melbourne’s director of emergency medical research George Braitberg has issued a stark warning – do not forage mushrooms in Australia.
He said: “I know all the mushroom foragers would be angry at me for saying that, but that’s the perspective I have.
“It’s tragic (when a death) occurs because it’s really an avoidable death. People were just doing what they thought was a right thing to do. They were just trying to find some mushroom.”
Police are continuing to investigate any new leads in the mind boggling case.
Within hours of interrogation with Erin, detectives painstakingly searched a nearby rubbish tip where they retrieved a food dehydrator believed to have been used to prepare the meal.
Cops are now trying to trace CCTV which would show cars driving in and out of the site.
But many questions remain unanswered as the investigation continues.
NineThree people have died after eating at the Leongatha home[/caption]
NineGail Patterson has died[/caption]