08/06/2018
MOTHER ALMOST LOSES HER LEG FROM FLESH EATING BUG AFTER ACCIDENT ON SPANISH WATERSLIDE
Helen Priestley, 42, suffered gaping wounds riding water chute in Benidorm
Mother-of-one was diagnosed with flesh eating disease Necrotising Fasciitis
Mrs Priestly, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, was told she might lose her leg
A mother almost lost her leg after an accident Benidorm waterslide left her with gaping wounds that got infected with flesh eating bugs.
Helen Priestley, 42, split her leg open in two places while riding the chute in Spain and had to have two operations after her cuts became poisonous.
The mother-of-one is suing the hotel for its 'death trap' slide and hopes to get it shut down before someone else gets hurt.
Mrs Priestley, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, said: 'The slide I was on is a potential death trap. It’s only a matter of time before an adult or child is seriously injured on it.
Helen spent £850 on last minute holiday for her, husband Leon, 40 and 15-year-old daughter Danielle.
They stayed at the four-star Magic Tropical splash resort in Benidorm.
Mrs Priestly went down the White Tornado slide, not realising someone had broken their leg on it an hour earlier.
She said: 'I didn't stand a chance really as the gap to go through wasn't really big enough to get through.
'The water current was really strong and it slammed me into the opening. I was in absolute agony.'
She had to battle the current to get off the slide and t was then she saw how serious her injury was.
'I started nearly passing out from the shock and blood loss. I had a big massive hole in my leg like an indent.'
She was rushed by ambulance to a private clinic where she was x-rayed and put on an IV Drip before being discharged.
They didn't see a rep for two days after the hotel refused to pay for a wheelchair, so they were forced to book one themselves.
She said: 'I was in constant pain, but they wouldn't help us at all from then on. I was in intense pain and couldn't wait to get home.'
She returned home but six weeks later she went back into hospital in agony.
Doctors at the Rochdale Infirmary diagnosed her with Necrotising Fasciitis - the deadly flesh-eating bug.
She said: 'A cloudy, milky liquid was pouring out of my leg it was disgusting. One time I woke up and my bed was soaking from all the liquid and it was that bad the nurse thought I had spilled a glass of water on the sheets.
'But as the poisons were gone I felt a bit better.'
She was transferred to the high dependency unit in the Royal Oldham Hospital where they battled to save her leg with two emergency ops.
She added: 'I actually felt better and had a cup of tea. But then the Drs looked at my leg and said I might lose my leg and told my husband and daughter I could also die.
'I was hysterical I couldn't believe all this had come from a water slide.'
Mrs Priestly - who runs her own cleaning business with her husband- added: 'It was like something out of a horror film.
'There were massive holes in gaping wounds in my legs and you could see the bone.'
Now her wounds have healed but she is very wary of her scars which she says, 'look like shark bites.'
Since her accident she has been contacted by other holidaymakers who are believed to have been injured on the same slide.
But she says that despite this her travel operator Jet2 have not apologised or shut down the slide and so she has had to take legal action.
Solicitors representing Helen, said tour operators have a duty of care to check that hotel facilities like water slides are safe.
They added: 'It defies belief if the same slide that severely injured Helen is open and still causing injuries.
Common sense dictates that waterslides shouldn't have any design features that prove an obstacle.
'If people are getting injured then something is wrong with the slide and it should be shut down.'
A spokesperson for Jet2 added said: 'The health and safety of our customers is extremely important to us and we are exploring Helen's claim fully.
'As this is part of an ongoing legal process, we are unable to comment any further at this time.'
'I was a real outdoors person and now I can’t do as much as I used to.
"THE WORST THING IS JET2 COULDN'T CARE LESS.
'They are just thinking about money and sending people there and now people are getting injured again.'
