Toddler struck by E.coli ‘from buffet at 5-star Egyptian hotel’

A TODDLER has been left fight- ing for life after contracting deadly E.coli, allegedly from a five-star holiday hotel buffet.

Cillian Holt, 20 months, may need a kidney transplant after being struck by food poisoning in Egypt.

He was rushed to hospital six days after returning home from the Jaz Bluemarine Resort. Doctors discovered he had kidney failure linked to a rare complication caused by E.coli.

Cillian suffered two seizures and has had a four-hour operation plus five transfusions since he was admitted to Liverpool’s Alder Hey Chilanother dren’s Hospital earlier this month. He remains on kidney dialysis.

His parents, Richard Holt, 33, and Lara Wilcocks, 35, claim Cillian was one of five family members to suffer severe vomiting and diarrhoea after eating from the hotel buffet during their June break.

Public Health England is investigating after several British tourists returned from Egypt with E.coli. TUI, the travel operator which Cillian’s father used to book the holiday, has also launched an enquiry.

Last night Mr Holt, who runs his own plumbing business, said his son was lucky to be alive. He added that it was a ‘disgrace’ that no-one from TUI had been in touch.

He said: ‘When we brought Cillian in to hospital his kidneys weren’t working at all and the doctors said that if we’d kept him at home for couple of hours he’d be dead. He still isn’t out of the woods yet... there’s still a possibility he’ll need a kidney transplant.’

Mr Holt paid £2,500 for the twoweek all-inclusive break for himself, Miss Wilcocks, and children Lilly, eight, Olivia, five, and Cillian. He said that, two hours after eating at the buffet on the third evening, he was struck down with crippling stomach cramps and diarrhoea.

Over the following fortnight each member of the family fell ill.

Mr Holt said he complained to a TUI representative, who promised notices would be put on the restaurant door at the resort in Hurghada urging guests to use the hand sanitisers before eating.

The family went to a clinic and were prescribed an ‘intestinal antiseptic’. But after they returned home to Knotty Ash in Liverpool on June 29, Cillian failed to improve.

On July 5 he was rushed to Alder Hey after becoming ‘lifeless and floppy’. He has remained at the hospital ever since.

Mr Holt said he contacted TUI on social media and via email to complain. But he has received only a generic response saying that someone would be in touch within 28 days.

A spokesman for TUI said: ‘We’re very sorry to hear of the Holt party’s experience and are in contact with the customer to discuss this further... an investigation is ongoing. We would like to reassure customers we carry out regular health and safety audits, including hygiene, at all the hotels we feature.’

‘Lifeless and floppy’