Holidaymaker Sues TUI after Daughter Contracts E.Coli in Egypt

A British holidaymaker is taking legal action against tour operator TUI after her daughter almost died from a serious kidney infection after staying in the Jaz Makadi Aquaviva Hotel in Hurghada, Egypt.

Keelie Averill’s daughter Daisie-Rae was 2 years old when she fell ill at the hotel after eating from the buffet and was rushed by ambulance to hospital. She sustained severe kidney damage after being diagnosed with Haemolytic Urameic Syndrome (HUS) - a rare kidney infection caused by bug E.Coli.

Following a blood transfusion, her condition deteriorated after being given a 50% survival rate and she was rushed by air ambulance to another hospital in Cairo. But after dialysis failed, she was then flown back to the UK to a London children's hospital, where she spent a further three weeks recuperating with dialysis and a further blood transfusion.

She sustained acute kidney failure from the infection and now has to take daily iron supplements and undergo regular check-ups to monitor her kidney function. Mum Keelie has been advised by doctors that they don't know how badly her daughter's kidneys are damaged and that she will need regular check-ups into her teenage years.

Following her daughter’s illness, Ms Averill reported the incident to TUI but she was not satisfied with the tour operator’s response. She believes she was fobbed off with a standard reply, and that TUI was unhelpful when she tried to gain documentation to assist an insurance claim.

Keelie then contacted Simpson Millar’s Holiday Claims Lawyers to help her claim compensation.

Holiday Claims Lawyer Simon Lomax, who is handling Ms Averill's case on behalf of her daughter, said TUI needs to do more to stop the spread of infection in resorts.

He commented, "This family have been through hell and back and now another child on a TUI holiday is going through the same thing. The tour operator needs to do much more to prevent infection in family resorts and to stop children from ending up in hospital."

Ms Averill described the ordeal as the worst thing she has experienced in her life and has now decided to speak out after hearing of a new outbreak of E.Coli in Hurghada.

"I had to take legal action to warn other families and stop this happening to anyone else,” she commented.

"I feel so sorry for the other families now going through what we did. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I am now reliving it all again. I didn't think I would bring my daughter home. We warned TUI but it doesn't seem to have made a difference if children are still getting ill in their hotels."

Mr Averill went on to state that TUI never even contacted her when she got back to see if her daughter was okay, and that she had to chase customer services instead.

"We took it for granted that a 5-star hotel would keep us safe not give my daughter E.Coli. I wouldn't trust them with my child anymore,” she added.