Simon Patterson became emotional and asked for tissues as he gave evidence in the Latrobe Valley Law Court in Morwell on Thursday.

“My dad’s condition was significantly more severe than my mum’s,” he tearfully stated to the jury while describing the scene with Don Patterson in the hospital the day after consuming the toxic mushrooms.

“She looked a bit puzzled and said ‘I noticed Erin served her food on a coloured plate, which was different to the rest’.”

Simon expedited their trip to Leongatha Hospital due to the ambulance’s estimated one-hour arrival time, and later proceeded to visit his parents, who were located in Korumburra.

Later that afternoon, Simon said he spoke to Erin on the phone and told her his family were “all crook and they’d all been admitted to hospital”.

Erin told him she’d been suffering from diarrhoea herself since the previous afternoon, and she was worried about driving a 30-minute round trip to drop her son’s friend home the night before, he said.

“She was worried that she’d poo her pants,” he said.

The trial before Justice Christopher Beale continues.

LISTEN NOW: The Mushroom Trial