£14,000 Compensation after Child Injured in Hotel Room on Holiday

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A Holiday Accident Claim Case Study – Client Situation

Our client went on an all-inclusive family holiday in Tunisia and stayed at the 4-star Sentido Rosa Beach Hotel. But several days into their holiday, one of the children was injured in their hotel room.

The family had been given a clean and spacious room, with a double bed for our client and his partner and two single beds for the children, along with patio doors leading to a balcony overlooking the pool area.

One day, our client’s 10-year-old son accidentally walked straight into the patio doors from inside the room, as the glass was so clean he thought the doors were open. There were no stickers or markers on the glass to indicate whether the patio doors were open or closed and there was nothing on the glass to indicate whether it was toughened or laminated.

When the boy walked into the patio door, the glass broke into a number of sharp pieces, and he sustained cuts to his forehead above his left eye, cuts to his left cheek and three serious cuts to his right knee, which was pouring with blood. The boy’s mother went to get help and returned with the hotel’s deputy manager, whose first action wasn’t to ask about the boy’s welfare, but to ask if they wanted to move to another room.

A taxi was called to take the boy to hospital, where he had a number of X-rays to his face, chest and knee to establish if there was any glass present in his wounds, which were then cleaned before he was taken for surgery. Fortunately, there was no major damage to any nerves or ligaments and he had 10 stitches inserted into 3 separate cuts to his knee, while iodine was applied to his head injuries.

The boy’s parents were advised to change his dressings every other day, administer medication twice a day and make sure he stayed out of the sun, sea and pool. The boy subsequently spent the rest of the holiday under an umbrella out of the sun by the pool, as his mobility was considerably impaired.

The family were moved to a different room at the hotel, and one day while sitting by the pool, our client could see their previous room and noticed the management putting stickers on the broken glass on the patio doors before taking some photographs. This led him to believe they may have been trying to cover themselves.

Our client reported the boy’s injury to a rep from tour operator Thomas Cook and filled out an accident form, but didn’t receive a copy. The rep did, however, inform the boy’s father that this was the third similar incident that week.

The boy has since made a full recovery, and has no problems with his knee apart from occasional itchiness. However, the accident has affected him psychologically as he has since refused to go on holiday. The family have therefore been forced to stay at home and avoid any excursion that involves staying in a hotel.

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How We Helped

The boy’s father contacted our Holiday Accident Solicitors for help with claiming compensation from Thomas Cook. He blamed the tour operator for the injuries to his son, arguing that had the patio door glass been toughened or laminated glass and had there been appropriate signage, the accident would never have occurred.

Our Holiday Accident Solicitors arranged a medical examination of the child to fully assess the extent of his injuries, and proposed a compensation settlement based on the boy’s pain and suffering and the fact that the family’s holiday had been completely ruined. We also advised Thomas Cook that the family should be compensated for the subsequent impact of the accident on their family life and the cost of getting medical treatment in Tunisia.

The Outcome

Thomas Cook offered to pay a total of £14,000 in compensation, which was accepted by our client.

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