Lawyers Investigating Cause Of Illness Following Return From Egyptian Holiday

A young woman who was left fighting for her life and needing two months off work after she suffered severe kidney problems following a summer break to Egypt is taking legal action as she recovers from her illness.

Nicola Collings, 23, travelled to the all-inclusive Siva Sharm Resort & Spa in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, in August 2014 with travel company Red Sea Holidays UK Limited but became ill with gastric symptoms on the day she landed at home and just two days later she was fighting for her life.

Nicola, from Birmingham, who was forced to have two months off work and is still feeling the effects now, has instructed specialist international personal injury lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate the cause of her illness.

The law firm is also representing other holidaymakers who also travelled to the resort in the summer of 2014 who also fell ill.

Irwin Mitchell have previously represented a group of holidaymakers who stayed at the hotel when it was called the Savita Spa Resort in 2010. The holidaymakers all experienced severe gastric symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach cramps. The law firm successfully managed to secure a five figure settlement for that group of holidaymakers.

Nicola said that while staying at the hotel during her holiday in 2014 she was concerned to see on a number of instances how staff washed glasses in water with no cleaning products.  Nicola advised that it appeared that on occasions food was recycled at different meal times, as the same foods appeared on the menu at later sittings.  She also said that food was sometimes served uncovered and luke warm and cutlery was dirty.

Nicola also reported that the pool area was sometimes dirty and the pool water was murky. She also told lawyers that she had heard others complaining about how dirty the pool was.  

Expert Opinion

We are currently investigating the exact cause of Nicola’s illness. It is extremely worrying to hear how severely ill Nicola became as a result of the illness she suffered. She has been through a traumatic experience and continues to suffer as a result of the illness she contracted.

“As we conduct our investigations we would urge anyone who stayed at the Siva Sharm Hotel and who may be able to provide information about the conditions there to get in contact with us as soon as possible.”
Amandeep Singh Samra - Associate Solicitor

On 10 August 2014, just hours after Nicola had returned home from the five-star resort, she was struck by horrific gastric symptoms including diarrhoea and stomach cramps and was referred for emergency hospital treatment the next day.

After having her appendix removed because of suspected appendicitis, blood tests revealed that Nicola was suffering from HUS (Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome) and TTP (Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura) causing her blood to fail and her kidney function went down leaving her fighting for life.

Doctors at Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham said she was in a critical condition but after emergency dialysis and a blood transfusion she eventually pulled through.

Nicola was in hospital for more than two weeks and needed further dialysis treatments and blood transfusions.

Nicola, a hotel reception manager, said: “The months following my return to the UK were absolutely terrifying as doctors only gave me a small chance of surviving my condition. I’ve had to have so much time off and moved back in with my parents for two months during my illness so they could help look after me.

“Although I’m now back at work I’m often shaking and tired and I still don’t feel normal now ten months on. I’m lucky really that I don’t have to be on dialysis all my life but I shouldn’t be in this situation at all. I also have to be careful about my health as my immune system is not that great and so I tend to get ill easily.

“When you go on holiday you are supposed to come back feeling refreshed but I ended up fighting for my life. I’m desperate to know what caused my illness as there could be other people affected who might not be as lucky as I was in surviving my condition.”