NEW EGYPT HOLIDAY HORROR I’m terrified my little boy won’t survive FOOD POISONING CAUSES LUAY, 7, SEPSIS & STROKE
A BRITISH boy is fighting for life after food poisoning while on holiday in Egypt led to a series of devastating illnesses.
Luay Mohammed, seven, has spent more than three weeks in intensive care with complications including sepsis and a stroke after contracting salmonella.
He fell ill at the five-star Tia Heights at Makadi Bay in Hurghada – near the resort where John and Susan Cooper died last month.
His condition deteriorated back home and he was rushed to hospital. And on Thursday, Luay had a series of seizures and a stroke.
Speaking from Birmingham Children’s Hospital, his mother Fathia Obayd said: “It was terrifying. I thought we were losing him.”
Luay’s condition is now critical but stable and he is today awaiting MRI scan results and spinal tests to help doctors identify any longterm damage. He is still getting treatment to repair a collapsed lung.
Fathia, 30, added: “I was so scared we would lose him. It makes me so angry this all began with food poisoning. Luay is just a little boy. He’ll be in hospital a while yet but he is a fighter.”
Fathia, of Balsall Heath, Birmingham, released pictures of Luay to warn other parents. She said: “Act quickly. When we told staff we’d felt unwell they just told us to eat natural yogurt.”
The case comes after traces of E.coli were found at Hurghada’s five-star Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel, where John, 69, and Susan, 64, of Burnley, Lancs, died last month. Egyptian authorities say they died of natural causes. Fathia and 12 relatives went to Tia Heights, around 15 miles away, for a fortnight from July 27. She said she and her three kids had diarrhoea.
The hotel has 3.5 stars on Tripadvisor and many positive reviews but some blast sanitation. It was after getting home on August 10 that symptoms worsened in Luay, who has sickle cell anaemia.
Fathia said: “He woke screaming – struggling to breathe, hallucinating, with a fever. Within hours he deteriorated and I was told he might not make it.”
The poisoning had led to life-threatening sepsis spreading to his spine and spleen. Fathia thought he was having a “normal flare-up” and gave him paracetamol. She rushed him to A&E on August 17 and tests found salmonella enteritidis. She said: “They said it was most likely from our holiday.”
The infection caused an abscess on his spleen and further complications triggered sepsis that spread to his spine. On August 18, Luay went into septic shock. Fathia said: “I prepared for the worst.”
She is pursuing a complaint via Purple Travel, who she booked through, after she “struggled” to make contact with Tia Heights.
Tia Heights said: “During this period we have almost 3,550 guests and we did not have one recorded or reported case of salmonella.
“Sanitary standards are watched by Ministry of Tourism, like other hotels. Any place has positive and negative reviews.”