A holiday firm has paid out almost £300,000 compensation to a man who was struck down with a potentially fatal food poisoning while on honeymoon.

 

Julian Hurley, aged 50, from Doncaster was celebrating his nuptials with his new wife Jayne at an all-inclusive resort in Venezuela in August 2004 when he fell ill.

 

Mr Hurley became ill after eating undercooked food at the all-inclusive resort but was unable to seek medical attention while abroad. Upon his arrival back in the UK, Mr Horley was immediately admitted to Doncaster Royal Infirmary and was treated with intravenous drugs and antibiotics for a form of dysentery called shigella. He remained in hospital for five days.

 

As a result of the food poisoning he suffered while on honeymoon five years ago, Mr Hurley now suffers from irritable bowel syndrome, post-traumatic stress and chronic fatigue syndrome.

 

Mr Hurley said of his experience: “When we went to the hotel restaurant I tried a variety of different dishes, which included cooked meats. The food was of an extremely poor standard, a lot of the dishes were undercooked, and some of them were almost cold.”

 

The type of food poisoning which Mr Hurley contracted, shigella, is acquired by drinking water contaminated with human faeces or by eating food washed with contaminated water.

 

Mr Hurley continued: “The impact that this hellish holiday has had on our lives has been devastating. I now struggle to walk long distances and find myself getting tired easily. I am still suffering from symptoms to this day and will do for the rest of my life, which had been very difficult to come to terms with. I also had to reduce the number of hours I could go to work and, to this day, I have not returned to my pre-holiday working pattern.”

 

“This has impacted on my relationship with my wife as, instead of me being the main breadwinner, she is. She now has to look after me, rather than the other way round.”

 

Mr Hurley has since received an out of court settlement from the travel company that organised the holiday. It is the responsibility of the tour operator to ensure that the hotels they send holidaymakers to, achieve and maintain certain standards of safety and hygiene.

 

A spokeswoman read as statement from First Choice Holidays, it said: “First Choice was very concerned to hear about Mr Hurley’s illness while staying at the Costa Caribe Beach Hotel in Margarita in August 2004. We would like to reassure our customers that their health and safety is of paramount importance. We closely monitor all the hotels to which we operate to ensure that the strictest health, safety, hygiene, and comfort levels our customers expect are maintained. First Choice can confirm that it has made an out of court settlement to Mr Hurley in respect of the illness and subsequent health problems which occurred following his stay at this property. Since this incident First Choice has ceased to operate to the destination of Margarita, and therefore no longer features this hotel in its product offering.”

 

If you have suffered food poisoning on holiday you may be able to make a claim for compensation. Our expert solicitors will be happy to advise you and pursue a claim for personal injury compensation through the travel agent, their insurers or the hotel or restaurant that was responsible for your food poisoning.

 

The process of making the claim will be carried out quickly and efficiently by a skilled solicitor on No Win No Fee term. When the claim is settled you will receive the full amount of compensation without deduction and our costs will be recovered from the other party.

16-year-old falls victim to Spanish youths on night out

 

A 16-year-old boy is in a coma following an attack from youths during a Majorcan holiday to celebrate finishing his GCSEs. Alex Hughes was leaving a nightclub on the quiet Port d’Andratx resort with his three friends when Spanish youths attacked them, hitting Alex over the head with a bottle.

 

Alex was holidaying with his friends and parents, one of whom alerted the Spanish emergency services when Alex finally made it home in the early hours on the night of the assault. The 16-year-old underwent emergency surgery in hospital in Palma, and was later flown home to Cardiff’s University Hospital on a private charter jet. After a number of tests, doctors last Thursday described his condition as critical, but stable.

 

 

 

On the night of the incident, Alex and his friends had been targeted in the club by youths, allegedly made angry that the British boys were dancing with local girls. Alex’s father told newspapers that the youths were well-known for their troublemaking. Dr. Hughes described how, despite being shown out of the club by bouncers, the Spanish boys waited outside for Alex and his friends to leave before launching their attack.

 

 

 

Three teenagers have been called before a Spanish investigating judge following the accident, but no charges have been made. With the possibility that the youths will stand trial at a juvenile court, the precise charges made will depend on Alex’s recovery.

Over 130 people from Eastern Europe suffered from food poisoning while on holiday in the Bulgarian resort of Sveti Vlas in June 2009. 127 of the victims were children and a further 8 were from among the accompanying teachers on the trip.

 

The victims came from different groups of holiday makers which included Russians, Poles, Bulgarians and Ukrainians. They were staying at the Mistral 2 vacation complex on the Black Sea when they fell ill.

 

At the time of the outbreak 250 children between the ages of 9 and 16 were visiting from Poland, Russia and the Ukraine, as well as a group of nursery-age children from Bulgaria. After the outbreak a regional health inspector from the nearby town of Burgas carried out an inspection of a seafood restaurant where the people affected had eaten. This was subsequently ordered to be closed.

 

The victims suffered from symptoms of vomiting, diarrhoea and fever but fortunately no- one required hospital admission and victims were all treated “on the spot” by local doctors.

 

This incident highlights what can happen if standards of hygiene fall below those that are required to protect the health and safety of consumers. Food poisoning can be fatal, particularly in the case of the elderly or very young children.

 

If you have suffered a similar illness on holiday you may be able to make a claim for holiday compensation. As soon as you are able to you should contact Macks Solicitors for free legal advice. You can discuss your illness and the options available to you in an informal consultation with an experienced solicitor. If, following this, you would like Macks Solicitors to pursue your claim on your behalf, we will be happy to do so.

Earlier this month holiday makers had a narrow escape as their coach ended up off road in an attempt to avoid a collision.

 

The coach was carrying 33 Slovakian holidaymakers to start their holiday in Bulgaria when the coach accident happened when a lorry swerved into the opposite lane right into the path of the oncoming coach. In an attempt to avoid a collision the coach driver turned left into a neighbouring field. However the lorry’s semi-trailer hit the left hand side of the coach at the rear.

 

The Slovakian Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesman Peter Stano said “The accident took place near the village of Calimanesti, which is in southern Romania, on the road to Bucharest. Twelve people were injured, two of them seriously. They were admitted to a hospital in Sibiu. No one was killed. Our consul is on his way to the site of the crash and he will also go to the hospital to talk to the people. The embassy is continuing to look into the situation, and is in touch with the local authorities.”

 

The two holidaymakers, who were injured in the coach crash, remained in hospital while two other passengers chose to return home. The remaining passengers are awaiting another coach to take them to Bulgaria to continue their holidays.