Legal Experts Instructed After Illness At Benidorm Resort

Frustrated holidaymakers have called on specialist lawyers to help them get answers regarding the gastric illness many of them suffered during their stay at the Hotel Helios in Benidorm in April this year.

Irwin Mitchell’s International Personal Injury team has been formally instructed to investigate the problems faced by several families during their holidays at the resort in April. Some of the holidaymakers required hospital treatment as a result of the severe gastric symptoms of diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach cramps that they developed.

The legal experts have now begun making their own enquiries into the illness suffered on the holidays which were booked through tour operator Jet2holidays Ltd.

Expert Opinion

“We are very concerned by the first-hand accounts we have heard regarding the illness problems at the Hotel Helios and are now investigating the issues we have been informed about. We have been advised by our clients that they were aware of others who were also ill.

“A case of this kind is an important reminder of the terrible impact that gastric illnesses can have on victims, often leaving them with severe symptoms that can require medical treatment and have a lasting effect on their health.

“With this in mind we are committed to developing an understanding as to how these issues emerged. As part of our work, we would be keen to hear from anyone else who may have also been affected.” Amandeep Singh Samra - Associate Solicitor

Among those affected by the problems was Phillip Bancroft-Steele, 63, from Rainsworth in Mansfield, who is continuing to suffer as a result of the illness he developed towards the end of his two-week stay at the Hotel Helios in April.

He said: “This was our first family holiday together, which has left a bad memory. The illness floored me and I couldn’t believe it when the doctor at the hotel suggested I needed hospital treatment. You just never think something like this will happen to you while you’re on holiday and it is devastating that my symptoms are still continuing, over 5 weeks after returning home.

“To be told by the Doctor at the hospital in Benidorm that the illness may have affected my Kidneys and Liver shocked me. I had to receive medication and be put on an intravenous drip.

“We were far from the only people ill so it is clear that answers are needed about how this outbreak emerged. There was a doctor at the hotel that was treating people who were feeling unwell and I know of many other holidaymakers who came down with the illness and even needed hospital treatment like I did. It wasn’t just our family.”

Mary McKay, 45, from Glasgow, also fell ill halfway through her week-long holiday at the Hotel Helios.

She said: “Looking back, we’d seen some instances when food had been left out for long periods of time during the sitting. On occasions some of the meat dishes were undercooked and we noticed on several occasions during the sitting that new food was added to the old food set out. On one occasion I witnessed a faecal accident in the pool, but you just assume that everything has been handled in a safe manner.

“We were only there for a week, so to fall ill after just a few days was massively frustrating after spending so much money on going there. This simply should not have occurred and I feel we deserve answers about what happened.”