Smith and his wife visited McDonald’s regularly and always enjoyed the same thing: a Quarter Pounder.

But he fell ill after a visit in late September and was hospitalized.

Tests showed the presence of E. Coli and he was treated for four days before being deemed fit to be discharged.

Debbie Bonnell said CBS she was questioned by health officials as her father left the hospital.

“(The health officer) asked, ‘Where did my parents eat?’ because there’s been some sort of outbreak,” Bonnell said. “But they weren’t going to say where yet.”

The family was still in the dark about the source of the infection and so Smith made the fateful decision to return to McDonald’s – for another Quarter Pounder.

The symptoms returned and he was hospitalized again. He died on October 20.

“Excruciating pain” and a woman’s guilt

Doris Smith called her daughter on October 3, concerned about her father’s health.

Bonnell rushed in and found her father “so weak he couldn’t walk.”

Hospital treatment followed, but the second time was much worse.

“We saw my father in excruciating pain for several days – struggling with his arms and legs. It was very hard,” Bonnell said.

Although JC Smith’s decision to eat Quarter Pounders at that Colorado McDonald’s proved fatal, his wife escaped uninjured.

She’s not a fan of onions, she said CBS.

“I took mine off and gave it to him,” Doris said, admitting she felt guilty for her actions.

JC Smith’s grandson Jim said the family is speaking out to protect others.

“If you work in this field…and you lose a certain level of concern or become complacent, accidents happen. Then you will be held responsible. And when we talk about taking people’s loved ones and changing their lives permanently, other people need to know that,” he said.

JC Smith’s family hasn’t taken legal action yet – they say they just want him back.