Expert Irwin Mitchell Travel Lawyers Secure Five-Figure Settlement After Illness At Hotel Sunwing Waterworld

A couple whose luxury winter break in Egypt to celebrate their anniversary with their family was ruined by gastric illness have received a five-figure settlement after expert holiday illness lawyers Irwin Mitchell took legal action against their tour operator.

Rae Claydon and his partner Rachel, from Ingatestone, Essex, spent a week at the five-star Hotel Sunwing Waterworld, in Makadi Bay, Egypt, in December 2014 along with Rachel’s daughter Bethany, 5, and Rae’s mother.

However, after the first night at the hotel, which was booked as part of a Red Sea Holidays package, Rachel woke up with insect bites, which she told expert travel lawyers at Irwin Mitchell she thought were caused by bed bugs.

Rachel suffered hundreds of bites and was prescribed pain killers, a cortisone injection and antihistamines. She was left with scars from the bites on her legs.

The family were moved to different rooms in the hotel, but by the next morning all four began to suffer with diarrhoea, stomach cramps and sickness. They were all so ill that they were unable to eat or drink anything for 24 hours. The illness left the group unable to fully enjoy the facilities on offer at the hotel.

Rachel lost over half a stone in weight and continued to suffer symptoms after returning to the UK.

They instructed specialist lawyers in Irwin Mitchell’s International Personal Injury  team to investigate the cause of the bites and illness they suffered, following their stay at the hotel.

The law firm has now secured a five-figure out-of-court settlement for the family from tour operator Red Sea Holidays Ltd, without an admission of liability.

The family told their legal team at Irwin Mitchell that a number of rooms they were offered were dirty and that crockery and cutlery used in the restaurant were sometimes dirty. They also say that on occasions old food was added to freshly cooked food and some of the meals appeared to have been reheated and served on more than one occasion.

Jennifer Downing, a specialist travel illness lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said:

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“Rae and Rachel waited a year for this holiday, which was supposed to be spent relaxing with their family, but they were left suffering with gastric illness symptoms as well as a significant number of bites.

“We have seen first-hand how much of an impact gastric illness can cause and the effects it can have on the many people who suffer long-lasting problems.

“No one goes on holiday expecting to suffer from illness problems as Rae and Rachel did and we are pleased to have been able to secure them a fair settlement so that they can now put the ordeal behind them.” Jennifer Downing - Solicitor

Rae, a company director, said: “We had been looking forward to this well-deserved break for over a year and it very quickly turned into a nightmare. It was an awful holiday and the effects of the illness left us completely shell shocked. I’m relieved we now have a fair settlement and just hope that no one else suffers from a similar situation in future.”

Rachel, an accountant, added: “We wanted a nice break in the sun with our family after working so hard all year and had been looking forward to it for months. It was meant to be a celebration of the two years Rae and I have been together, but we were left feeling let down and very disappointed.

“Visiting the resort doctor and my own GP after coming home was really not what I was expecting when we booked the holiday.”