I NEARLY DIED AT EGYPT DEATH RESORT Food poisoning horror near tragic holiday couple
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EX-PARA Jeff Long, 86, from Bingley, West Yorks, walked 100 miles between 10 RAF bases to raise £2,000 for forces charities. A HOLIDAYMAKER nearly died of kidney failure after he got food poisoning at an Egyptian resort next to one where a British couple died of suspected E. coli.
Father-of-three Spencer Johnston collapsed days after his break in the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada – booked with the same operator, TUI.
Spencer, 53, ended up in intensive care and on a dialysis machine as he suffered an acute kidney infection.
He claims it developed after he picked up severe food poisoning at the four-star Sindbad Aqua Resort – just 2.2 miles from where John and Susan Cooper died mysteriously last month.
Spencer said: “This holiday nearly killed me. Doctors told me I could have died. Our dream trip turned into a nightmare.”
Spencer is demanding TUI – the new name for Thomson Travel and one of the world’s largest tour operators – repays the £2,500 cost of the four-star, allinclusive seven-night break.
The ex-cabbie flew to Egypt in July with tea lady wife Carole, 47, and their children Freddie, 28, Alfie, 13 and Chloe, 11. But he claims they fell ill after dining at resort restaurants.
He said: “The food was so bad. The pizzas were so hard you could throw them at a wall and they’d bounce off.
“It was as though they had been cooked and then re-cooked. “The hot dogs were bright red. “The first few days our children got really bad diarrhoea and then Carole got sick with the illness.
“It wasn’t until the last three days that I got the bug. I was so ill I was bed-bound and out cold for the end of our holiday.”
Spencer said Carole was too “embarrassed” to tell hotel staff he was bedridden with vomiting and diarrhoea.
After flying home Spencer, of Sittingbourne, Kent, went straight to a GP who diagnosed food poisoning.
He said: “I was meant to be recuperat- ing. But for days after I was slipping in and out of consciousness. I fell asleep in a supermarket car park for three hours.
“One day my youngest son found me passed out in my car outside school, with my foot on the accelerator.”
Spencer was later found unconscious at the kitchen counter after passing out and spending all night there.
Carole called 999 and five firemen lifted the 6ft 5ins dad to an ambulance.
He spent six days at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent, before being discharged.
He was diagnosed with AKI stage 3 – acute kidney infection caused by dehydration from food poisoning.
An NHS report this year warned: “More than 20 per cent of patients with AKI will die in hospital, rising to 35 per cent in those with AKI stage 3.”
Spencer said: “I was hallucinating the whole time. I thought I’d died. I just saw a tunnel and the end.”
Egyptian authorities have linked the deaths of John, 69 and Susan, 63, with E. coli. But postmortems in the UK were inconclusive and more were ordered.
The couple had a joint funeral in Burnley, Lancs, on Wednesday.
Spencer has been told he may wait up to six months for a decision from TUI.
And Nick Harris, head of holiday travel at Simpson Millar solicitors, said: “Since the Government changed rules on how to pursue holiday claims he’ll probably struggle to get his money back.
“He has a family who would have had to watch all this. Holidays are much less safe than they were as tour operators don’t have a financial incentive to invest in health and safety. It’s shameful.”
Spencer said: “I feel I’ve had a lucky escape after what happened to the poor couple in Egypt who were just a stone’s throw away. It’s horrific.”
A TUI spokesman said: “We are sorry to hear about Mr Johnston’s experience and are investigating.
“As it’s a legal matter there’s not much more we can add.
“We’d also like to reassure customers we regularly audit all hotels we feature in respect of health and safety, including hygiene.”
Sindbad Aqua Resort said: “We are extremely sorry to learn Mr Johnston was ill. The vast majority of our guests are highly satisfied.”