Hamilton family sue holiday firm after Legionnaires death

The family of a Hamilton man who died from Legionnaires poisoning after a stay at a hotel in Bulgaria are taking legal action against tour operator Jet 2.

John Cowan - who would have turned 44 tomorrow (Wednesday) - passed away in June this year after falling ill at the Hotel Kalofer in the country’s Sunny Beach resort.

Now it's emerged four other people are believed to have been struck down with the virus at the same hotel.

John's younger brother, Barry, said: “We are all devastated.

"We just want answers - to know why this happened, to know it will never happen to anyone else" - John's brother Barry

“Neither Jet 2 nor the hotel have helped us at all - it’s like they’re just trying to hush it all up rather than help a bereaved family.”

"It was the hardest thing ever and I don’t think it’s something we’ll ever get over.

“We just want answers - to know why this happened, to know it will never happen to anyone else and to know why the tour operator and the hotel have done nothing to help.

“The travel insurers won’t even pay out to help us recover funeral costs - they said because John died of an illness and not an accident then it means John wasn’t covered."

John - who was known as Jake to his friends - first became ill while on holiday and continued to suffer the effects of the virus until he died one week after returning home on 19th June.

The causes of death formally listed on John’s death certificate are “septic shock” and “Legionella Pneumonia”.

Little is known about the cause of the outbreak but it’s understood the hotel’s air conditioning system has been examined.

Jet 2 are also understood to have not examined the aircraft that John travelled on.

Barry added: “Jet 2 told us they had not tested the aircraft my brother was on and they don’t think this is the source of the injury.

“We know of two other UK families affected by this who also stayed in the same hotel.

John’s mum Marie Cowan, recalled the days leading up to his death.

“When John came home he was feeling unwell," she said. “He was weak and his bones were aching."

“He basically stayed in bed most of that week - it wasn’t until he started getting short of breath that we went to the GP.

“As soon as the doctor saw John he realised he needed urgent attention and phoned an ambulance which took him to Wishaw General.”

Medics ran emergency tests and put John on a ventilator straight after discovering he had pneumonia in one lung.

However by 10.30pm that night John’s kidneys stopped working and he was put on dialysis.

The following morning it was confirmed to Marie that her son had Legionnaires Disease.

She added: “They had him treated by a medical team from Leicester but by that time he had pneumonia in the other lung as well.

“John was going to be moved to the Golden Jubilee but before the transfer he had to undergo an operation to help him breathe.

“However during surgery he went into cardiac arrest where he was unresponsive for 30 minutes.

“John was eventually revived and taken to the Jubilee however on arrival specialists told us John had suffered catastrophic brain damage as a result of the lack of oxygen so we gave permission to turn off the ventilator and give John a dignified passing.”

Mark Gibson, Partner at Digby Brown Solicitors and Head of the Foreign & Travel team, said: “We are currently investigating a claim that a man died as a result of Legionnaires poisoning at a hotel in Bulgaria but as the case is at an early stage it would be inappropriate to comment further."

A spokesperson for Jet2 said: “Sadly, we can confirm that two customers recently passed away shortly after returning to the UK from holiday in Bulgaria. We would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to their families at this very difficult time, and we have been in constant contact to offer all the assistance and support that we can.

“The health and safety of our customers is our absolute priority. In response, and to support our investigation, two independent specialists were instructed to take samples from the hotel and a UKAS accredited laboratory conducted testing of the water samples for any contamination. The results of all their tests were negative. We will continue to assist the local authorities in their investigations as required.

“Despite these results we have taken further precautionary measures, like other UK tour operators at the hotel. We have transferred all customers and all bookings for this summer to other hotels, and we have also put a stop on sales to the affected hotel for Summer 19 and Summer 20.''

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