A Teenager almost died and spent nine days in intensive care after being struck down with E.coli while on holiday in Egypt.
Anna Doherty, 19, started feeling unwell with vomiting and diarrhoea halfway into her ten-day trip to the resort of Hurghada.
She was treated with a course of antibiotics by doctors at the all-inclusive Jasmine Palace Hotel, where she was staying with her father Christopher, 52, and twin sister Jess.
But on her return to the UK, she was rushed to hospital, where doctors told her they suspected E.coli – the food poisoning bacteria that has been blamed for causing the deaths of British couple John and Susan Cooper at a different hotel in the same resort last month.
She spent nine days in intensive care and another two on a ward at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, where doctors said she was lucky to be alive.
Yesterday Miss Doherty, an administration assistant from Walkden, Greater Manchester, said: ‘It was really scary. I was perfectly healthy when I went away – I never expected to go on holiday and get so seriously ill.
‘The doctors told me I had been extremely lucky. My kidneys and liver were failing and I needed several plasma exchanges to clean my blood.
Miss Doherty, whose £600 holiday was booked via online travel firm OnTheBeach, said relatives initially took her to the Royal Bolton Hospital after she was sick ‘all day’ the day after she returned from the trip in March.
But she was quickly transferred with suspected jaundice to Liverpool, where medics told her they suspected haemolytic-uremic syndrome, a severe complication following infection by E.coli that destroys red blood cells and can cause kidney failure.
‘The doctors at the hotel clinic didn’t seem to know what they were doing. They tried to get a drip into my arm but couldn’t, then they prescribed me two lots of antibiotics, one of which I was later told was banned in the UK. The other lot were for a water infection that I didn’t have. I never want to go to Egypt ever again.’
OnTheBeach said: ‘We pride ourselves on delivering the highest standards of service and care to ensure our customers have the best possible holiday experience.
‘On this occasion, while we were not made aware of the customer feeling unwell either while on holiday or upon their return home, we are now in touch with them and assisting in any way that we can.’
Jasmine Palace failed to respond to a request for comment.