A mum was left 'traumatised' after her holiday turned into a nightmare.
Emma Elliott jetted to Menorca with her partner Lee Brogden, her seven-year-old son Bobby-Lee, and her nephew Lee. She spent some of her days sunbathing at the beach-front hotel and pool but divided to wake up early one day and go for a run along the Arenal d'en Castell Beach.
However, five minutes into her morning jog she spotted what she initially thought was a giant jellyfish stranded on the shore. Upon closer inspection, however, she horrifically realised it was a body so she ran back to the hotel room to tell her partner what had happened, Hull Live reports.
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Since the shocking discovery, Emma said she suffers from nightmares and daily panic attacks. "It happened on the fifth day of our holiday," Emma said.
"Up to that point we had been having a really nice time. We had been going to the beach, going on the pedalos and the discos at night time.
"That morning I woke up at 6:22am. No-one else was awake because it was so early, so I thought I would go to the gym in the hotel. But when I arrived at the gym there was a sign on the door saying it wasn't open until 9am so I decided to go on a jog along the marina.
"I had jogged halfway along the marina [about five minutes] and thought I would turn back because the sea was a bit choppy, but I decided to continue as it looked safe to do so. Four steps later, I looked to my right and there was a dead body lying on the beach.
"I had to look about three times before I realised it was a body. I thought it was a jellyfish at first.
"I can't get the image out of my head. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. I looked around the beach and no one was there so I sprinted back up to the hotel and went straight back to my hotel room with my partner Lee.
"I was so panicked and kept repeating 'dead body, dead body'. I was crying from the shock at first and I couldn't catch my breath when I first found him."
She added: "My partner Lee went to the hotel office to let them know and then he had to go and see it for himself. He called the police and they came straight away. Lee had to stick a pole in front of the man to stop him washing back to shore.
"That was my big concern. I didn't want him to drift back to sea without having a funeral, getting peace for his family or being put to rest. The Spanish police took a statement from me at the time.
"They promised to let me know who the man was and where he was from, they still haven't let me know so I haven't been able to put my mind to rest. I need to know this to get closure. It's not something you see every day.
"The police arrived pretty sharpish around 7am. But he was still lying on the beach two hours later. I was staying on a beach seafront hotel and I could see everything that was happening after the police came.
"Lee, my nephew is 17 so we were able to explain to him what happened but my seven-year-old started panicking when he heard what had happened." Still waiting on the police force's findings, Emma said she hopes they're able to establish the man's identity so she can put her mind 'at ease'.
Emma said: "The police said they were doing an autopsy on him the day after he was found but we have heard nothing. I wanted to find out this information to put my mind at ease.
"I hope I have helped to identify someone's loved one and helped in some way. I honestly believe that I was chosen to go and find that body that morning. I know it might sound weird but someone above chose me to find him."
The body was discovered at 6.45am on May 17 with Spanish police arriving on the scene at 7am. Emma says she has difficulty sleeping and can't get the image on the man out of her head while continuing to have nightmares.
Emma said: "After finding the body on holiday, I was down all the time and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was having really bad panic attacks and I seem to be having more and more.
"Maybe this is because the shock of what happened has worn off. I'm still having panic attacks now and the doctors have had to prescribe me sleeping pills.
"I keep having nightmares and I'm waking up in the middle of the night. My partner also had to see the dead body and he can't sleep properly either. I'm not eating very well at the moment and I could hardly eat on holiday as I just felt sick. We booked the holiday through Jet2, they offered counselling initially and I had one session of trauma counselling while on holiday.
"I'm just a bit traumatised by what went on."
Emma revisited the beach before heading on a flight back home with her family in order to leave flowers and a note. Emma said: "After finding the dead body I didn't return to the beach for the rest of the holiday. The only time I went back was on the last day with Lee and my son.
"No one had put any flowers down so we went out and bought some and we wrote a little note to put down on the beach. I had to go down just for my own peace of mind before I went home. I don't think I could go to the beach on my own again - definitely not at this present time. I don't think I could go on a beach in Newcastle on my own either at the moment.
"It just brings back too many memories. I think if I went down on my own, I'd just be looking all over the place for dead bodies.
"Maybe in time I will be able to but not right now. I don't think I could even go jogging on my own at the moment, I haven't got the mind to do so."
A spokesperson for Jet2 said: "We are sorry to hear of Ms Elliot's experience. We can confirm that our teams were in regular contact with Ms Elliot throughout her stay and did all they could to support her, including putting her in touch with our counselling support service."
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