Widow sues Tui for £560k af ter husband drowns snorkelling
A WIDOW is suing holiday giant Tui for £560,000 after her husband drowned during a ‘poorly monitored’ snorkelling lesson on a dream Caribbean trip.
Roy Fawcett, 58, died on Paradise Island in the Dominican Republic two days before the end of their all-inclusive package break.
While his wife Susan, 60, stayed in the shallows, he joined others for a more advanced lesson in deeper waters – then failed to return with the group. He was later spotted ‘floating face down in the water and not moving’.
Mr Fawcett was rushed to hospital, but pronounced dead. At a UK inquest the senior coroner for South Staffordshire, Andrew Haigh concluded he had died from ‘accidental drowning on a poorly monitored holiday excursion’.
His widow is now suing Tui at the High Court in London, claiming it was responsible for her husband’s fatal accident in October 2017. Her lawyers argue Mr Fawcett was inadequately prepared for the lesson and left unsupervised.
The couple, from Swindon, Wiltshire, booked a stay at the luxury Club Hotel Riu Bachata via Tui and Mrs Fawcett says they signed up for the snorkelling excursion to an offshore island on the clear understanding that it was provided by Tui. But the firm denies any responsibility for organising it, the court heard.
Also suing Tui are fellow snorkellers Jamie Elkaleh, 29, and Aimee Allen, 29, who saw Mr Fawcett’s last moments and struggled to save him as he slipped away.
It was Mr Elkaleh who put Mr Fawcett in the recovery position and freed his tongue after he was finally pulled on to the island beach, court documents disclose.
Miss Allen, a nurse, then told helpers to move the dying man because ‘incoming waves were still covering his face’.
Both say they were left mentally scarred from watching the ordeal, Miss Allen suffering an ‘acute distress disorder’ and Mr Elkaleh stricken by PTSD and depression, it is claimed.
The case reached court this week in a preliminary hearing to decide what expert evidence will be needed at the trial.
The court heard there were questions over the precise cause of Mr Fawcett’s death, with speculation that he may have struck his head or that fluid on the lungs may have been a contributory factor.
Mrs Fawcett’s barrister Andrew Young told Judge Roger Eastman: ‘We put our case in three ways: first we say that Mr Fawcett wasn’t given sufficient guidance
‘Mentally scarred from watching the ordeal’
or training in how to use his equipment, second we say he was not properly supervised when he was doing the snorkelling, and when it was realised that he had been taken ill and needed assistance, that was incompetently carried out.
‘We say that the excursion provider, and therefore indirectly Tui, were responsible for his death.’
But Tui says the snorkelling trip was not part of the package it provided and therefore not the travel company’s legal responsibility. A date has not yet been set for the full trial of the damages claims.