Ross Burden The mother of an HIV positive New Zealand celebrity chef who died from Legionella pneumonia at Auckland Hospital has laid a formal complaint. Ross Burden, who had a high profile in the UK through his regular appearances on Ready Steady Cook, died in July. The Sunday Star Times is reporting an interim coroner's report which says the 45-year-old died in the intensive care ward on July 17 of Legionella pneumonia. “An antecedent cause was listed as HIV infection, which came as a shock to his family as Burden had never mentioned having that virus, which attacks the immune system and allows infections and cancers to thrive,” the newspaper reports. It says he breathed in Legionella bacteria that was present in the hospital's hot water system. Burden was openly-gay, and was last seen on New Zealand television as a judge in the first season of MasterChef. Read more from the Sunday Star Times here
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 23rd November 2014 - 9:35am