SLEE BLACKWELL WIN HOLIDAY FOOD POISONING CLAIM
Personal injury partner, Mike Clarke, has won a significant legal victory against the tour operator, Thomsons for a holiday food poisoning claim. Mike acted for Mrs and Mrs Shore, who booked their first major foreign holiday with Thomsons, paying for a luxury, all-inclusive fortnight at the 5-star Dreams resort in Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt.
There, Mr Shore contracted salmonella paratyphoid, a life-threatening illness which does not usually occur if proper hygiene and food controls are observed. He became critically ill, with delirium, severe vomiting and diarrhoea, threatening complete organ failure. He was airlifted back to the UK, suffering two heart attacks in transit, before spending 6 weeks hovering near death in the intensive care unit of a specialist tropical disease unit in Liverpool.
He survived, but was left with significant weakness, which is likely to be permanent.
Mike says "This was a fascinating and risky case. It is very difficult in this sort of case to prove the source of infection. We had to carry out very detailed investigation of Thomson’s hygiene systems, training, and resort records, as well as obtaining specialist evidence from experts in hygiene standards, and tropical diseases. Thomson’s denied liability throughout and refused to negotiate at all, until we were virtually at the door of the court. They then accepted a settlement offer that we had put to them many months previously. It has taken almost 5 years to obtain justice for this client, having to fight all the way, but he now has fair compensation for what he went through."
Mike can be contacted on 01237 427921 or michael.clarke@sleeblackwell.co.uk
Call us now on 0808 139 1590
Or email us at lee.dawkins@sleeblackwell.co.uk
