A family said their £4,000 5* holiday was ruined when they got a sickness bug which left their five-year-old in hospital being treated for E. coli. Mum-of-two Sheri Smith, 43, was excited for her break to Delphin Imperial Resort on Lara Beach, Turkey, with her son, daughter and husband.
But she says on the second day of the trip everyone in the family apart from her daughter contracted a stomach bug. She said they spent the next five days in excruciating pain, hallucinating and unable to eat or drink anything, during the trip booked with agents Travel Republic.
Sheri says her unnamed five-year-old son had to be hospitalised and given an IV drip - and could have possibly died from the condition if not quickly treated. She claims doctors said he had E-Coli or salmonella, and agents have launched an investigation. To add to their misery, travel chaos meant their flights were delayed by hours both ways.
Sheri said: "I'm just so angry because it was our family holiday that I paid a lot of money for, and it just got ruined. We'd got married in lockdown so we never to do the honeymoon we wanted, so this was like our second special family honeymoon.
"By the second day though that was it - the holiday was over. We basically couldn't move from bed and I was hallucinating because of my fever, but I didn't want to go to hospital because I was worried I'd be stuck here for weeks afterwards."
They flew to Antalya, Turkey, in the early hours of June 5, and the next day her son started to have stomach pains. "Eventually by midday we decided he might just be hungry, so we got him some pasta," she said.
"By half past he said he wasn't feeling well. Not even 30 mins later he sat up and was sick everywhere.
"He just completely emptied everything out of him - he couldn't even keep water down. After about two hours he'd lost control of his bowels - even in bed.
"His temperature was shooting up so I gave him paracetamol and Calpol, and then some Nurofen by later. By the evening though I was also feeling sick."
They got a hotel to the hospital, her son was put on a drip due to lack of fluids, and a blood test revealed he was suffering with a serious bacterial infection, she said. Sheri added: "They basically said to me he couldn't go home and had to stay in hospital, and they put him on antibiotics."
Sheri and her husband were struck down next. Unable to consume any food and barely any water, Sheri claims she didn't eat for five days and is still feeling "wrong" weeks later.
She said: "We saw the hotel doctor, and when he examined me and touched my stomach I was screaming from the pain. Straight away he said he had to give me an injection in my bum, and then gave me extra medication an hour later.
"We were in there maybe five minutes, but within that time three other families came down to the front desk to complain about the same problem."
Sheri said she is considering legal action. A spokesperson for Travel Republic said they have since started an investigation.
Referring to Sheri using her maiden made, a spokesperson said: "We’re very sorry to hear of the experience of Miss Gill and members of her family at the Delphin Hotel and have spoken with her to discuss the matters she has raised. We sincerely hope that the family is now feeling better.
"We’ve started an urgent investigation with the hotel to clarify the details, and as proud members of ABTA we’ll be responding to Miss Gill fully within the timeframe that their guidelines set out. We’ve shared the details of the process for resolving a post-holiday issue of this nature with Miss Gill and will keep her fully informed of our progress throughout.
"We want our customers to enjoy a happy and relaxing holiday when they book with us and as such expect all the hotels we work with to meet all legally required health and safety standards. We take any suggestion that these have not been met very seriously and are looking into the matter with the upmost priority."
The hotel has not responded to a request for comment.
