A family of 19 celebrated a wedding with a holiday to St Lucia that turned out to be fraught with problems and resulted in serious injury.
In July 2011, 19 members of the Westell family and friends went on holiday to St Lucia to celebrate a recent family wedding. It was a rare treat for that many members of the family and friends to be able to take their annual holiday together. However, the holiday was fraught with problems, from issues with the TV on the flight to building works being carried out at the Hotel and the room being of a poor standard.
To make matters worse, two members of the Westell family also sustained injuries during the holiday. On 27 July 2011, Mr Westell was walking over a wooden footbridge which went from one pool to another. The surface of the bridge, unknown to Mr Westell due to lack of any signage, was slimy and slippery due to the presence of algae on it. As a result, Mr Westell slipped on the algae and hit his head. Mr Westell was knocked unconscious and taken to hospital where he was diagnosed as having suffered a concussion.
Following the accident, the bridge was closed off and staff members scrubbed the bridge clean.
Two days later, Charlie Westell, just 11 years old, was playing water polo in the pool with friends. The ball came out of the water and Charlie got out of the pool to fetch it. He kicked the ball back into the pool to his friends and then proceeded to attempt to re-enter the pool. As he did so, he stepped on a drain cover which, unknown to him, had not been secured to the floor. The drain cover collapsed and his foot went down the drain, causing severe cuts to his leg. Charlie was taken to hospital where the wound required 7 stitches. Charlie spent the rest of the holiday in a wheelchair and has now been left with scarring to his leg.
We have sent a formal letter of claim to Virgin with whom the Westell family booked their holiday and we are awaiting a response.