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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Travel
Milo Boyd

Dad furious over TUI treatment at Spanish airport after son struggles to breathe

A dad has accused TUI of "washing their hands" of him and his family when his son struggled to breathe at an airport in Spain.

Justin Tress claims he was offered no help by the company when his two-and-a-half-year-old son Stanley became hot and sweaty and had difficulty breathing while on the way home from their holiday in Fuerteventura.

The 52-year-old took the young boy to the departure lounge's information desk where a nurse came and assessed him before calling an ambulance.

As Stanley and his dad were blue-lighted to hospital, his partner Chelsea Carpenter got their bags off the soon-to-depart TUI plane, waved goodbye to her older kids and grandad, and rushed to the hospital with Stanley's twin.

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Stanley had had a great time on holiday with his family (Justin Tress)
Justin said the trip and resort were "fantastic" (Justin Tress)

Before she did, the worried mum asked a member of TUI staff what they should do about the missed flight and getting home, and says she was shocked and gutted by their alleged response.

"TUI told my partner 'the flight has gone, your holiday with us is over, that's it, you're on your own'," Justin claimed.

"She was in tears. She didn't know what to do. She was stranded in a foreign country. She is sat there with suitcases and bags and not knowing what to do.

"The airport staff were amazing, one lady in particular went above and beyond, but TUI had washed their hands of us."

Prior to the holiday the family had been big TUI enthusiasts, having spent around £20,000 with the company over the course of seven years.

The run of successful holidays looked to have continued with the July getaway to the TUI Magic Life resort in Fuerteventura, which Justin described as "fantastic".

All this changed after they checked in for the return flight shortly after 10am on the day of their departure and Stanley fell sick.

"The nurse came over within ten minutes, took one look, listened to his chest and said 'we need to call you an ambulance'," Justin, who lives just outside Bournemouth, claimed.

"I was whisked off with my son straight away. We were blue lighted to the local hospital.

"My partner arranged with ground staff to remove our baggage from the aircraft. The other two kids went back with my partner's father, and he took them from Gatwick home."

When Chelsea arrived at the hospital with Stanley's passport and European health card and medics had requested, she found him on oxygen with a canula inserted.

Stanley was rushed to hospital for treatment (Justin Tress)
(Justin Tress)

Thankfully doctors managed to help the young boy get back on his feet and be flight ready later that day.

The family, who say they had arranged travel insurance before their holiday, claim they were left without any help or guidance from TUI, and were instead left to book different flights from the island to Gran Canaria, and then back to the UK.

When Justin got home he contacted the company to request compensation, but he claims he is yet to receive any response.

"I'd like TUI to compensate me for the flights," he said. "It's disgusting. It can happen to any family travelling to them. I spent five hours this morning trying to get a response from TUI.

"I will not fly with TUI again. My confidence in them is gone. I don't know if they could get me home anymore. Why should I put my hard earned money in their pocket?

"I run a holiday park, I would never treat any of my guests like this."

A spokesperson for TUI said: "We’re sorry for the time it’s taken for our team to get back to Mr Tress.

"We always recommend customers contact our 24/7 holiday team if they need support whilst on holiday and can confirm we have no record of contact from the Tress family while they were away.

"Our team has spoken to Mr Tress and advised that as per our policy, because the illness cannot be attributed to TUI, they will need to contact their travel insurance provider to cover the cost of the flight."

Justin denies that anyone from TUI has contacted him following the holiday.

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