Amy Bowen of the St. Cloud Times has written about Stephanie Smith, 20, (Just for Kix instructor) who is struggling for her life after contracting what appears to be a critical case of E. coli poisoning. She was on life support Friday in the intensive care unit at St. Marys Hospital, Rochester. Doctors are treating her for a severe case of E. coli poisoning that they believe came from ground beef she ate, said Smith’s mother, Sharon Smith of Cold Spring. Doctors have yet to confirm the strain of infection through lab tests. Doctors diagnosed Stephanie Smith with hemolytic uremic syndrome. The condition is caused when E. coli toxins enter the bloodstream. It causes kidney failure and low blood-cell counts, Dr. Kirk Smith said.