Incident At Gran Melia Palacio De Isora Left Huddersfield Man In Intensive Care

A Huddersfield man who suffered a coughing fit, collapsed and ended up in intensive care during a family holiday in Tenerife has instructed expert international personal injury lawyers to commence legal action after hotel management confirmed too much chlorine was added to the swimming pool that he and his son were playing in.

Adam Morton, 43, travelled to the Sensatori Tenerife Gran Melia Palacio De Isora hotel with his wife and two children in August 2016 after booking the holiday through the tour operator Thomson. 

On 21 August 2016, a few days before the end of the break at the luxury resort, Adam was playing in the family swimming pool with his son when he smelled something strange.

He immediately got himself and his son out of the pool but he began coughing violently. As he tried to attract the attention of the hotel staff he collapsed and was unable to breath. He was taken to hospital, where he was placed in intensive care for two days.

Adam has now instructed expert international personal injury lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to commence legal action on his behalf against the Tour Operator, Thomson.

A letter from the hotel to Adam has confirmed an error by the pool maintenance company caused excess chlorine to be added to the family pool.

James Riley, an expert international personal injury lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, representing Adam, said: “The experience that Adam went through during his holiday was obviously very traumatic for him and his family. The last thing you expect when booking a holiday is to end up in intensive care abroad.

“We have heard a first-hand account of the incident from Adam and it is obviously extremely concerning that this occurred in an environment where a number of people may have been at risk of suffering the same problems as Adam.

“The family pool had other guests in it at the time of the incident and it is clear the consequences could have been much worse for Adam and the other guests in the pool at the time, many of whom were children.

“We would urge anyone else who was affected by this issue at the Gran Melia Palacio De Isora hotel to contact us as they may be able to help with our further investigations.

“We now hope that we can provide Adam with some answers about how the incident happened as well as ensuring that steps are taken by the tour operator and the hotel to prevent this kind of incident in the future and also to ensure that he is compensated for the ordeal that he has been through.”

Adam was forced to take a week off work to recover and suffered chest pains for a number of weeks after he was admitted to hospital. It is yet to be determined if the damage to his lungs will cause him longer-term breathing problems.

Adam said: “What happened to me came completely out of the blue and all I remember is getting out of the pool and not being able to stop coughing. My collapse and being rushed to hospital was obviously extremely traumatising for me and my family.

“It could have been a lot worse as my son and other children were playing in the pool at the same time. Clearly, the way chlorine is added to the pool needs to be looked at to ensure that this kind of thing doesn’t happen to anyone else in the future.

“The hotel has admitted the problems were caused by excess chlorine being added to the pool but that doesn’t make up for the days I spent in intensive care, the time I spent off work or for the possible long-term damage the incident has caused to my health.”

If you or a loved one has suffered an illness while abroad, our accident and illness abroad claims team could help you to secure compensation. See our Illness Abroad Claims page for more information.