A British family says their 4,000-pound five-star vacation was ruined when they arrived in Turkey with a mysterious illness that hospitalized their five-year-old son.
Sherry Smith, 43, had eaten nothing for five days, was unable to eat anything and barely even water.
“We saw the hotel doctor and when he examined me and touched my stomach, I was screaming in pain,” said Croydon-based mother, Sherry.
She was first excited for her break at the Delphine Imperial Resort on Lara Beach, Turkey, with her son, daughter and husband.
But he claims that on the second day of the yatra, except his daughter, everyone in the family got stomach worms.
Sherry Smith paid over £4k for a week-long vacation at the Delphine Imperial Resort on Lara Beach, Turkey, with agents Travel Republic. But the family contracted an illness that hospitalized their five-year-old and left the mother of two hallucinating.
Her five-year-old son had to be hospitalized – and could have died from the condition if not treated early
She says she spent the next five days in excruciating pain during a trip she booked with agent Travel Republic.
Her five-year-old son, who the family asked not to be named, had to be hospitalized – and could have died from the condition if not treated early.
Doctors in Turkey put a five-year-old child on an antibiotic drip used to treat both E-coli and salmonella, telling the family that the two diseases are nearly identical in terms of symptoms.
The boy soon recovered, but without doctors even knowing what the disease really was, agents launched an investigation.
To add to their misery, the travel chaos meant that their flights were delayed by hours either way.
Doctors in Turkey gave a five-year-old a drip of antibiotics used to treat both E-coli and salmonella. Both diseases are almost identical in terms of symptoms, and the boy got cured.
Sherry says: ‘I’m just so angry because it was our family vacation that I paid a lot of money for, and it just went to waste.
‘We got married in lockdown so we never wanted to have the honeymoon we wanted, so it was like our second special family honeymoon.
‘By the second day though that was – the holiday was over.
‘We basically couldn’t move out of bed and I was hallucinating because of my fever, but I didn’t want to go to the hospital because I was worried I’d be here for weeks later.’
They flew to Antalya, Turkey, in the early hours of June 5, and the next day her son started having stomach pains.
‘Finally by noon we decided he might be hungry, so we gave him some pasta,’ she went on.
‘By half an o’clock he said that he was not feeling well. It was not even 30 minutes that he woke up and was sick everywhere.
Sherry initially attributed it to sunlight or food poisoning, but now blames poorly cooked food or pools – but there is no evidence.
A blood test revealed that he was suffering from a serious bacterial infection, he continued.
Pictured is the 5-star Delphine Imperial Resort on Lara Beach in Turkey. Sherry says she is considering legal action after spending £4K on vacation
Sherry continued: ‘They basically told me he couldn’t go home and he had to stay in the hospital, and they put him on antibiotics.’
After this she and her husband were beaten up.
‘We were there maybe five minutes, but within that time three other families came out to complain about the same problem.’
Sherry says she is considering legal action.
A spokesperson for Travel Republic said they have “started an urgent investigation with the hotel to clarify details” and are taking any suggestions that the guidelines have not been met.Very seriously’, he said, adding that they are ‘looking into the matter with the highest priority’.