Once in a Lifetime Holiday turns into Christmas Nightmare

A couple whose once in a lifetime holiday at a Cape Verde resort was “completely ruined” by serious illness problems, have instructed specialist lawyers to investigate the issues they faced.

David Barratt, from Prudhoe, Northumberland, is continuing to suffer as a result of the gastric illness he developed during a Christmas break with wife Jacqui at Riu Touareg in Boa Vista, which was arranged to mark his 70th birthday, her 60th and their 40th wedding anniversary.

David has advised that his symptoms were so severe that, following his return to the UK, his GP referred him for further tests and support to the Infectious Diseases Unit at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. 

The problems have led David and Jacqui to call on Irwin Mitchell’s specialist International Personal Injury team to investigate how their dream 10 day holiday arranged through Thomson’s became ‘a nightmare’.

Nichola Blackburn, the specialist illness lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who is representing the couple, said: 

Expert Opinion

“We are very concerned by the first-hand accounts we have heard regarding our clients’ stay at the Riu Touareg and have now begun making our own enquiries in relation to the problems.

“The impact of gastric illness should never be underestimated, as the problems can leave victims with symptoms from which they never fully recover.

“We are now determined to help our clients gain answers regarding the issues they faced and, as part of our investigations, we would be keen to hear from anyone else affected by similar issues at the resort.” Nichola Blackburn - Paralegal

David Barratt first began experiencing symptoms including diarrhoea, nausea and joint pains on Christmas morning 2016, just several days into the holiday.

He said: “We spent a huge amount of time researching the holiday to ensure it would be perfect and it just turned out to be a nightmare. 

“In addition to my illness, we were also concerned by the condition of the swimming pool, the water was cloudy, tiles were missing and we did not see it being cleaned. We were also unhappy with the state of our room upon arrival, from what we could tell, the shower and balcony had not been cleaned and towels were not replaced. 

When describing a particularly unsavoury occasion David said: ‘We were at the restaurant for our evening meal and I witnessed a member of the kitchen staff handling both raw chicken and cooked food with the same gloves.”

David added: “The resort was littered with cats, they were even on the tables in the restaurant and guests were feeding them, the staff didn’t seem concerned at all.

“The hot food was sometimes cold, even if we were in the restaurant as soon as it opened.  On several occasions I witnessed the staff top up the food trays with fresh food and leave the existing food at the bottom.  

Discussing the impact of the illness David added: “This holiday was meant to be the best we had ever been on, but it was terrible. 

“To make matters worse, the illness means we’ve had to put plans to visit my daughter and her wife on hold even though we haven’t seen them for nearly six months. They are expecting their first baby and we are yet to celebrate with them because I’m afraid to pass anything on.

“We are hugely frustrated by everything that has happened and want to know how I came to fall ill. We just want answers.”

David’s wife, Jacqui, who looked after David following his illness, described the hotel as ‘absolutely filthy’ and how David has lost over 20lbs in weight since falling ill. She advised she was and still is ‘extremely worried’ about him throughout this ordeal and said ‘the holiday has had a big impact on both of our lives’.  

David added: “The hotel staff acknowledged the special nature of our holiday but did nothing to help mark the occasion, we didn’t even receive the regular change of bedding we had requested after I fell ill. Unfortunately the holiday was memorable for all the wrong reasons."