A long-awaited honeymoon ended in 'disaster' for Forest Hall couple Clare and Andrew Carr.
For instead of 19 days relaxation for Clare to recover from treatment for a brain tumour, the couple claim to have spent much of it travelling backwards and forwards for medical treatment after a fire at their apartment in Fuerteventura.
And now Clare has spoken of her anger that Jet2, who the couple booked their holiday with, have refused to take responsibility for the newlyweds' ruined trip and have ignored requests to send an up-to-date fire certificate to cover the apartment's safety. However, the firm says the hotel "complies with local health and safety requirements".
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The couple's holiday "hell" began three days after they flew from Newcastle Airport to the Canary Islands, when Andrew popped to the shops and left Clare, 46, alone in the apartment.
"The lights began to flicker and then there was an almighty bang and I could see that the fuse box, which was behind the entrance door, was on fire and fuses inside it were exploding," said Clare. "Because of where the fuse box was, I could not use the door, so I ran on to the balcony and shouted for help before I rang Andrew. Two guests from downstairs heard my yells and ran to ask reception to call the emergency services."
Andrew, 49, ran back to the apartment and tried to keep me calm, but I was absolutely frantic. I couldn't get out of the door and the apartment was on the second floor, so I couldn't jump down. It was awful for Andrew because he could see the state I was in and couldn't do anything to help me, until he had the idea of standing on a chair and a barman climbed on his shoulders up to my balcony, grabbed a towel and ran me out the apartment past the burning fuse box.
"The whole thing was absolutely horrific, and our ordeal carried on, as the room we were moved to had no smoke alarm, which completely freaked us out after what I had just been through, so we spent the night terrified the same would happen again and coughing because of the the smoke inhalation."
When Clare was checked over next day, she said she was found to have bronchitis, which she claims required two lots of medication and three days of nebulisers. This meant she visited a medical centre, which she says was doubling as a Covid centre, for five days which cast a shadow on their holiday.
The final straw came for the couple after being moved for a second time when they claim the kettle tripped in their room, which Clare said caused her to panic and have flashbacks to being trapped on the balcony.
"Andrew and I have enough going on in our lives without this happening," said Clare, who was diagnosed with her brain tumour in September 2020. "We paid Jet2 £1770 for the holiday, without spending money, and it was not the holiday we had booked, looked forward to or paid for. This was meant to be as break for us after the terrible time we have had, and a late honeymoon because I couldn't go on a proper honeymoon as I was in the middle of chemotherapy when we got married. Instead it was a complete disaster."
"We have lost lots of days dealing with the fire, cleaning all of our things, washing our clothes, and attending the medical centre. I am very weak from the cancer treatment and having bronchitis so my husband had to do everything, so it was far from a break for him. Three months later, I am very traumatised by the whole incident, It has affected my sleep and I need to make sure I am by a door so can escape if I need to."
On the couple's return they contacted Jet2 about their ordeal, and said they were disgusted when the company only offered a £300 voucher against the price of a Jet2 holiday as compensation.
A Jet2 spokesman said: “We are sorry to hear about Mr and Mrs Carr's experience and would like to apologise for any upset caused. Our teams did all they could to support Mr and Mrs Carr, after the fuse box tripped causing a small fire limited to the fuse box with smoke being produced.
"This included assisting them in moving rooms, arranging medical assistance, cleaning their clothes and completing regular welfare checks. The health and safety of our customers will always be our number one priority and following a thorough investigation we can confirm that the hotel complies with local health and safety requirements. We have provided Mr and Mrs Carr with a goodwill gesture in light of this experience.”
But Clare said she thought she and Andrew should be compensated for the full value of the holiday because of their ordeal, coming on top of her illness.
"Jet2 just don't seem to care," she said. "I have written to the chief executive seven times and he has not bothered to reply to any of the emails. It just doesn't seem right. When I spoke to someone about it, she said I should have read the safety instructions in the room - but they were on the back of the door where the fire was! I was a safety marshal at St James's Park for 15 years, so I am well aware of fire safety regulations.
"Luckily Andrew and I are tough, we have been through so much. I have been told that my tumour will come back and it will shorten my life, so we are just trying to live each day to the fullest and experience as much as we can while I am able. We were regular Jet2 customers - we would normally have two holidays a year - but this has made us so angry. The company just doesn't seem to have any empathy at all."
