Mother Launches Compensation Claim after Autistic Daughter Suffered Illness on Holiday
10/12/2009
A mother whose autistic daughter fell ill whilst on holiday has blasted the “shocking” hygiene standards at the Majorcan hotel in which they were staying.
June Spark, 37, along with daughters Brione, five, and Morgan, eight, all suffered from a serious gastric illness whilst on holiday at the Hotel Piscis in Puerto Alcudia which led to Brione being hospitalised upon their return to the UK.
Miss Spark claimed that conditions at the hotel were so bad that she was forced to cut short her two week holiday, her first in three years. She has since approached leading travel litigation experts at Irwin Mitchell to pursue a holiday illness claim against the company they bought the holiday from- Lowcostholidays.com.
Miss Spark, from Stirling claimed that the illnesses were due to a series of problems at the hotel, which included food in the restaurant often being served raw or cold, flies swarming in the eating area, dirty water in the swimming pool and sewage smells throughout the resort.
The family’s lawyer, Jenny Fewins, a travel litigation specialist at Irwin Mitchell, said Miss Spark was just one of a number of guests who had reported problems at the hotel.
She said: “It seems that Miss Spark and her family were not the only people who were adversely affected by the terrible conditions at the resort and she has told me that a number of people were ill at the same time as them.
“Having been advised that the hotel would be suitable for her and her children, it is understandable that she was furious to discover it was anything but. Her daughter fell ill after just two days there and all three of them are still suffering from symptoms now.
“Sadly this is a typical example of the kinds of problems we see at so many hotels and resorts as a result of poor standards of health and hygiene conditions.”
Miss Spark added: “We booked with Lowcostholidays.com and didn’t expect 5* luxury but I did expect a clean and safe environment for me and my children. This was the worst holiday I’ve ever been on and many other people at the resort were saying the same thing.
“My daughter fell ill very quickly while there – and we eventually all suffered from stomach cramps, diarrhoea, high temperatures and vomiting.
“There was no tour rep on site to complain to and the staff were either unfriendly or downright rude. I never thought I’d find myself paying out of my own pocket to return from a holiday a week early, but it was so bad I felt I had no choice for the sake of my children’s health.”
Jenny Fewins added, “We hope that Lowcostholidays.com will work with us to provide fair and prompt compensation of our clients, otherwise formal legal proceedings are inevitable. We hope that this can be avoided.”
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