A mum with terminal cancer has spoken of ‘horrendous’ delays ruining her holiday as she ran out of medicine to treat herself. Candice Donlan spent more than £2,500 on staying at a five star Nana Golden Beach resort in Crete with her husband Paul to take her mind off her cancer. She says the trip was ruined after a 43 hour flight delay home.
The 44-year-old was due to fly from Crete at 1.55am on Saturday (September 17) morning, but repeated delays meant they did not get home until 6am yesterday (September 19). Candice, of south Manchester, was diagnosed with Neuroendocrine NETs in February 2021 and given around two years to live, she has to carry medication with her to be regularly injected and it should be refrigerated.
However, repeated delays meant she was unable to do this, putting her care in jeopardy. Candice told the Manchester Evening News her and Paul, 47, spent the money on the holiday in order to take her mind off the illness as 'we don't know how long I've got left', but the lack of urgency she was treated with has left her feeling very upset.
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Flight operator TUI blamed a 'technical fault' and in an email sent out to customers, with the explanation for the delay given was "the expiration of crew hours due to air traffic control disruption".
Candice told the M.E.N: "People were sleeping on the pavements outside the airport thinking it was only a short delay, but it definitely wasn't that. I told the staff that I needed to get back as a medical emergency case and I would have happily gone to anywhere in the UK, just get me on a plane.
"I tried explaining that my medication is a form of chemotherapy but because I was using a syringe they thought it was just insulin. I had brought some extra medication in case of a short delay but this was two days.
"It's meant to be kept in a fridge all the time but it was 29 plus degrees here so there was no way of keeping it right. They just didn't understand that this was an emergency.
"It got to the point where I just had to clean and reuse a syringe," Candice said.
Candice had a letter from the Christie hospital explaining her illness but couldn't get the drug in Greece due to how expensive it is. Her daughter went to the TUI holiday store in Manchester city centre to make them aware her mum was stuck in Greece with medication running out and an attempt was made to get them on a flight quicker, Candice said.
"At first we went back to the hotel we had been staying in but after one night and no flight we had to move again, which was making me feel very lethargic," she added. "I always hear people say being delayed is fine and you get more time to relax but I could have got an infection at any point without the medicine which is very serious.
"The staff in Greece just didn't know what to do. I wasn't even the only medical emergency for that flight, someone with epilepsy was running out of medication too.
"I just didn't feel I was being offered anything to help, I should have been put on any plane going to the UK so I could get medication. If someone needs to get home that should be a priority but they didn't seem at all interested. There was a complete lack of communication, the organisation of everything was a complete circus.
"We spent the money on this to have some quality time together but now it's been completely ruined, and we don't know how much time I have left. It just felt like a waste of precious time. It was all so horrendous."
A spokesman for TUI said that the company 'fully understands customers' frustrations' and thanked passengers for their 'patience and understanding'. The flight operator also stated that overnight accommodation was sourced for all customers in Heraklion, that customers were provided with food and drink at the airport and a TUI holiday voucher, that customers were advised of their rescheduled departure time via email and text messages, and that customers are entitled to EU 261 compensation.
"We fully understand customers’ frustration due to the delay of flight TOM2571 from Heraklion to Manchester, which was unfortunately delayed due to a technical fault which meant the aircraft needed to remain in Heraklion overnight," the company spokesman said.
"We have sent multiple messages to customers to keep them up to date and we've provided overnight accommodation, transfers and meals. While we do everything we can to get customers home on time, their safety is always our number one priority and we thank them for their patience and understanding."
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