Great-grandmother, 71, wins five-figure payout from Jet2 Holidays after contracting Legionnaires’ disease during Corfu holiday that left her bedbound for months
- Great-grandmother Ann Best, 72 wins payout after getting deadly disease on trip
- She started to feel unwell on the second week of her holiday to Corfu, Greece
- Ms Best spent three weeks in hospital and could not get out of bed for months
- She was almost put into a medically-induced coma after contracting the disease
A great-gran left fighting for her life after contracting Legionnaires’ disease on a Jet2 holiday has won a five-figure payout.
Ann Best, 71, of Hemlington, Middlesbrough, started to feel unwell during the second week of her trip to Corfu, Greece, but initially put her flu-like symptoms down to the heat.
When she got home she was prescribed antibiotics by her GP but had deteriorated so much by her second visit that an ambulance was called.
Ann Best, 71, pictured above with her husband Michael, started to feel unwell during the second week of her trip to Corfu, Greece, but initially put her flu-like symptoms down to the heat
Her husband Michael said: ‘Years ago Legionnaires was a death sentence. You went into hospital and you never came out. I really thought I was going to lose her’.
‘It was so bad they had to give her oxygen therapy and nearly put her in an induced coma but thankfully she pulled through’.
The disease – a potentially fatal lung infection caused by inhaling tiny droplets of infected water – is commonly linked to air conditioning systems.
The couple, who have two daughters, six grandchildren and recently welcomed a great-granddaughter, have since won a payout from tour operator Jet2 Holidays Limited. A Jet2 Holidays plane is pictured above [File photo]
Two Brits died from the disease earlier this year after reportedly staying at a hotel in Bulgaria.
Ann spent three weeks in Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital following the diagnosis in August 2015, but was unable to get out of bed for months.
She says even to this day that her ‘breathlessness and lack of energy’ make even the simplest of tasks really hard work.
‘The staff at the hospital said that if the doctor had not referred me to hospital when he did I might not have survived,’ she added. ‘That fear plays on my mind now.’
The couple, who have two daughters, six grandchildren and recently welcomed a great-granddaughter, have since won a payout from tour operator Jet2 Holidays Limited, the company that booked their stay at Sidari’s Maria Apartments.
The case recently settled out of court for an undisclosed, five-figure sum.
Ann added: ‘I am concerned about air conditioning units in hotels abroad. I think a place can look clean but you can’t always see behind the scenes.
‘You don’t know if their air-conditioning units or water systems are monitored or cleaned properly and that frightens me.’
Nicola Rostron, a specialist travel lawyer at Slater and Gordon, said: ‘Mrs Best came back from holiday with a life-threatening illness, which even now is still having a serious impact on her day-to-day life.
‘Anyone operating an establishment with air conditioning or a hot tub or anything else linked to Legionnaires’ should be aware of the risks and their responsibilities in maintaining them. Jet2 had a duty of care to make sure that was the case.’
Jet2 has been contacted for comment.
The disease – a potentially fatal lung infection caused by inhaling tiny droplets of infected water – is commonly linked to air conditioning systems. A beach on the Greek island is pictured above [File photo]
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