A three-year-old boy faces a year-long recovery after falling seriously ill during a family holiday at a five-star resort in Turkey – and his family have now spoken out to criticise the hotel’s “disgusting” hygiene standards.
Isaiah was staying at the Xafira Deluxe Resort and Spa in Alanya with 24 members of his extended family to celebrate his 60th birthday when he suffered an eye infection and stomach pain in late June.
Her aunt, Pavern Gill, said her four-year-old daughter and another child had also been unwell during the final days of their holiday, suffering from fever and stomach pains.
But, she said, Isaiah was facing “the worst,” and when he finally got home he had to be rushed to the hospital, where doctors discovered he was suffering from gangrene in the appendix, gastroenteritis and E. Coli poisoning.
His appendix burst and he had to undergo emergency surgery, which his aunt said was a tense “life or death” situation from which he is still recovering a month later.
Her devastated mother told MailOnline how her happy life in Warwickshire was turned upside down by the ordeal and warned other families not to repeat her mistake by going to the same hotel.
Three-year-old Isaiah fell ill while on holiday with his family in Turkey at the end of June. He was admitted to hospital after returning home to the UK.
Isaiah had stayed at the Xafira Deluxe Resort and Spa in Alanya with 24 members of his extended family to celebrate his 60th birthday.
“What was supposed to be a happy holiday in Turkey has turned into a nightmare we never imagined,” said Isaiah’s aunt, Pavern.
She and her sister, Isaiah’s mother, paid around £1,500 each for their families’ week-long stays at the resort as they went out to celebrate their uncle’s birthday.
When they got there, Pavern said, they began to notice a clear lack of hygiene.
“There were a lot of things that weren’t cleaned,” he said. “Everything was very dirty: the rooms, the bathrooms… The hygiene in that hotel was horrible.”
The staff did not clean the pool and there was no chlorine in it, she said, adding that the only way they could get the cleaners to use chlorine in their rooms was by leaving them a tip.
But, she said, the group never imagined their children would get sick — until they started showing symptoms toward the end of the vacation.
‘My daughter and my two nephews started to have a fever, a high fever, but at first we thought it was because they were out in the sun and going in and out of the pool. We didn’t think much of it.’
Isaiah then developed a very serious eye infection, he said, and his eye “bulged out and became very swollen.”
“The kids were crying a lot and saying their stomachs hurt. But I thought, ‘Maybe it’s just the food? Maybe they’re not happy with the food?'”
Pavern said they had already had concerns about the food after noticing a “bad smell” coming from the resort’s kitchen.
The language barrier with hotel staff meant they had difficulty raising concerns about hotel hygiene, she said, and only spoke to one staff member who had limited English.
The family finally flew home from Turkey on July 1, with the children still suffering from a serious and mysterious illness.
Doctors at Warwick realised that Isaiah was seriously ill and sent him by ambulance to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
“On the flight back, my daughter was screaming in pain,” she said, adding that the little girl had been so badly burned that the cabin crew asked passengers if anyone could provide her with medical assistance.
Back in the UK, the four-year-old was hospitalised twice, her mother said, but doctors did not know what was wrong with her until she received the results of the stool sample.
According to her, these results indicated that her daughter was suffering from acute gastroenteritis and infectious mononucleosis. The little girl has already recovered, but her cousin Isaías has remained seriously ill for weeks.
The boy’s mother, who works for the NHS, took him to see doctors while they were in Turkey, and he was given eye drops and painkillers as his temperature rose to 39C.
But things got worse when they returned to the UK, she said, and she sought help from 111 and her GP. She was prescribed antibiotics, but they didn’t help.
After vomiting violently over and over again one day, the family decided enough was enough and took Isaiah to Warwick Hospital.
Doctors soon realised he was seriously ill and sent him by ambulance to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
One in five visitors who left reviews on Tripadvisor rated the hotel as terrible (the worst rating), and other travelers also complained about poor hygiene.
There they discovered that he had severe gangrene and he was immediately sent to emergency surgery.
Isaiah’s mother said they were hoping to perform access hole surgery, but the severity of the infection was so great that he needed invasive surgery and to be completely “cleaned out.”
“I honestly didn’t think he could get over the condition he was in,” his mother said, explaining that he had to be put on an IV, morphine and a feeding tube after surgery.
Isaiah was hospitalized for more than two weeks after being admitted in mid-July, with his mother by his side at all times.
He was later discharged on July 30 but had to be rushed to the emergency room a couple of days later, his mother said.
He is now back home but his full recovery is expected to take “months to years” and doctors have told his mother he may need to be readmitted as he is still “not eating or drinking properly”.
“He’s only three years old, this is very traumatic for him,” his aunt said. “It could take up to a year for him to fully recover.”
He added that the disease has “taken a lot” from the little boy, who was previously a “happy and energetic child who loved to play.”
His mother said: ‘I feel like we’ve been hit by a bus… we have a wonderful life, Isaiah and I.
Isaiah was hospitalized for more than two weeks after being admitted in mid-July, with his mother by his side the entire time.
‘I go to work, he goes to daycare, I spend a lot of time (with him), he plays a lot, he goes to football every Friday, but I have had to stop that.
‘Normally he is a very active and boisterous boy, but right now everything has come to a standstill.’
Pavern said: “The ordeal has left us devastated… The medical and financial burdens are overwhelming, especially for my sister who works part-time.”
The family has now created a fundraising to help support Isaiah and his mother, who had to stop working to care for him.
The sisters said they wanted to speak out about their family’s horrific experience to raise awareness about “the atrocious conditions at this supposedly five-star hotel.”
In a TripAdvisor review of the Hotel Alan Xafira, Pavern warned other travelers: ‘I strongly recommend not staying at this hotel.
‘The health risks are serious and their negligence has caused immense suffering to my family and me.
‘For the safety of your loved ones, choose other accommodation, especially if you have small children.’
One in five visitors who left reviews on the site rated the hotel as terrible (the worst rating), and other travelers also complained about poor hygiene.
MailOnline has contacted Hotel Xafira for comment.