A holidaymaker from Oldham was left hospitalised after what he claims was a food poisoning outbreak at a five-star resort in Turkey.
Liam Garnett, 37, was placed on a drip after being hit with suspected gastroenteritis while on holiday with his partner Gabrielle, 30, and two kids over Easter. And after returning to the UK, Liam needed further treatment and underwent tests including abdomen and chest x-rays.
His two children, aged six and four, also suffered from symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting and one of them is still off school due to illness. Liam, a site manager, is now among dozens of holidaymakers allegedly taking legal action against holiday firm TUI for the nightmare break at the Rixos Sungate hotel.
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He said: "It was horrible being ill, then seeing my children also suffering from sickness. The holiday was just a disaster and we want to know what went wrong. There were others at the same hotel who were also ill and I know they are considering legal action too as you don't book a five-star holiday expecting to spend most of it in bed with illness."
Liam said they booked the family holiday after having a tough period at work, hoping it would be a nice relaxing break while the kids were off school. The 1,076-room resort, in Kemer on Turkey's southern coast, boasts 11 restaurants including a 'world food' buffet and sushi diner, reports the Mirror.
It also has a water park and 12 swimming pools. But within days of their dream getaway, the family had been struck down with a mystery illness, which had symptoms similar to acute gastroenteritis.
Liam claims they saw food served uncovered at the resort, while cutlery, crockery and tables were often dirty. He claims there were cats in the restaurant and he saw chefs smoking in fire exits and not washing their hands afterwards - before dishing out the food without gloves.
Liam, from Manchester, added: "We booked the trip as it had been a tough time at work recently so we wanted to get away somewhere nice for Easter. But a few days in I was suffering with really bad sickness, fever and stomach cramps and I was in my hotel room for most of the next five days.
"Now I'm back home I've had to go back to work but luckily I can work from home as my illness is still ongoing."
Lawyers from Irwin Mitchell are investigating legal action against the tour operator and say they expect the number of claims to grow quickly. Jatinder Paul, from the law firm, said several families had suffered similar symptoms.
He said: "It's very concerning that multiple families seem to have suffered from similar horrible illness symptoms at the same time, at the same resort. Naturally they want answers as to how they have become so ill on a five-star holiday.
"No one goes on holiday expecting to need medical treatment either in the resort and even on their return home. We will now be writing to their tour operator TUI UK Limited as we seek to resolve the problems and find out what went wrong for the holidaymakers we are representing."
TUI describes the hotel as a "platinum" venue that's "tailored for families". The resort has a 4.5 out of five-star ranking on Tripadvisor.
Liam and his family stayed at the resort for a fortnight. A Tui Spokesperson said they were "concerned" to hear that customers at the Rixos Sungate resort, in Turkey, had been taken ill during April.
But they added as Liam Garnett and his family had now brought legal action, they were unable to comment on their specific case. They said: "We were very concerned to hear of small number cases at Rixos Sungate in Turkey, as the health and safety of our customers is our highest priority.
"We'd like to reassure all customers that we regularly audit all of our hotels in respect to health and safety, including hygiene. As this is now a legal matter, we are unable to comment on the specific cases."
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