After a five year battle, our expert International Personal Injury team secured compensation for a young man who contracted a potentially life-threatening illness and suffered severe kidney damage while on holiday with his family as a teenager.
In 2010, Bradie Perkins went on holiday to Turkey with his family. They stayed at the Holiday Village in Sarigerme – a resort which is now notorious for its poor hygiene record and high rates of illness among guests. In the last few days of their trip, Bradie began to feel unwell; and when he got home, his condition worsened. He was rushed to A & E twice with serious gastric symptoms, including severe diarrhoea, stomach cramps, and dehydration.
He was hospitalised and diagnosed as suffering from a potentially fatal strain of the E-Coli virus, along with the Giardia parasite. The virus had also done severe damage to his kidneys.
Our specialist team worked with medical experts to establish the extent of the damage and the effect it would have on the rest of Bradie’s life. Before he became ill, the teenager had had ambitions for the Navy: the state of his health now meant this would never be possible. Evidence garnered from experts such as nephrologists, psychologists, gastroenterologists and fatigue specialists showed the long term consequences of the illness, including the possibility of kidney failure in the future.
We secured a settlement of over £250,000 from the tour operator TUI Limited, who repeatedly denied responsibility for Bradie’s condition. The terms of this settlement also entitle Bradie to seek further compensation if his kidneys do indeed fail in the future.
This is not the first time the Holiday Village in Sarigerme has come under fire for its hygiene standards. The resort was featured on a BBC Watchdog programme around the same time as the Perkins’ family trip, and over the last decade we’ve acted on behalf of hundreds of guests who have become ill while staying there. As well as Bradie, there were also twenty six other holidaymakers who suffered gastric illness after staying there in 2010 – we were able to successfully secure compensation for all these claims in 2012.
Birmingham-based Partner and expert travel lawyer Amandeep Dhillon represented Bradie’s case. He said: “Bradie and his parents were terrified when he was hospitalised and it will now affect his life forever. He has missed out on his dream career in the Navy and had his life massively affected at a time when he should have been able to concentrate on being a teenager and completing his studies.”
Associate Solicitor Jatinder Paul was also part of the legal team representing Bradie. He said: “Bradie’s case was very complex and his kidney problems meant that we had to gather extensive expert medical evidence to show how his life may be affected in the long term. Hopefully now that he has the settlement he and his family can focus on the future and begin to move on with their lives as he seeks to complete his A-Levels and go to university.
I hope all tour operators will take note of this case and recognise the serious impact that gastric holiday illness can have, particularly on young people.”
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