A luxury five-star summer holiday became a ‘nightmare’ after all four members of a family from the North West fell ill and needed medical treatment for gastric illness.

A luxury five-star summer holiday became a ‘nightmare’ after all four members of a family from the North West fell ill and needed medical treatment for gastric illness.

Leanne and Timothy Undy, from Wigan, in Lancashire, travelled to the luxurious five-star Concorde El Salam Sharm Hotel in Egypt with their two daughters in July this year which they booked with tour operator TUI UK Ltd.

But just days into the holiday Timothy, 32, began to suffer with illness, including diarrhoea, vomiting, fever and stomach cramps. He visited a local chemist and was prescribed medication to try and relieve his symptoms but over the next few days his wife and two young children Ellie and Chloe also fell ill.

On their return home the family’s symptoms continued and they visited their local GP who again prescribed some medication.

The family has now instructed expert travel lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate the cause of the illness they suffered in Egypt, which prevented the family from enjoying the facilities at the hotel..

Timothy and Leanne report that on several occasions, they saw fresh food being placed on top of old food during the sitting and that sometimes some of the foods were undercooked.  They also report that on a number of occasions food tasted lukewarm. The couple have also described that the public toilets were sometimes not very clean and report seeing on one occasion faecal matter over the sink and floor in the toilet.

Expert Opinion

“Leanne and Timothy’s reports of the illness their entire family suffered at the Concorde El Salam Sharm Hotel are very concerning. The last thing they expected when they went on a family summer holiday was to be suffering with the symptoms associated with gastric illness and in need of medical attention.

“Through our work with many victims of holiday illness we have seen the impact that symptoms of this nature can have, in both the short and long-term, and we will now be investigating the cause of the family’s illness.

“Understandably, Leanne and Timothy want answers about what caused the illness that ruined the holiday they had been looking forward to all year. We would urge anyone else who suffered similar problems at the Concorde El Salam Hotel to contact us as they may be able to help with our investigations.”
Nichola Blackburn - Paralegal

Leanne, 35, who works as a teaching assistant, said: “We were all really looking forward to a relaxing break in the sun to get away from it all. But just a few days after we arrived at the hotel Timothy fell ill and the girls and I quickly suffered horrible symptoms too which ruined our entire holiday.

“We were disappointed with the hotel, especially the hygiene – for example the public toilets were sometimes not very clean and it is definitely not what we expected from a five-star resort.

“We hope that our legal team at Irwin Mitchell will be able to investigate the cause of our illness.”