Legal News

A bride and groom who allege their £28,000 wedding was ruined when they and 12 guests were struck down with holiday food poisoning have complained to tour operator Thomson.

Katie and Ben Sims were married on 22 April at the five-star Riu Merengue resort in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. However, the couple were bedridden days after arriving with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea.

The couple from Ottery St Mary in Devon had flown out to the Dominican Republic on 15 April with 20 wedding guests, the Daily Mail reports. The whole wedding party soon developed holiday food poisoning symptoms – and by the morning of her wedding, Mrs Sims was suffering from projectile vomiting and dehydration.

She said that she managed to get through the wedding ceremony – but the remainder of the day and her wedding reception were ruined, as she was confined to bed in the hotel’s infirmary.

Mrs Sims said:

'It was so hot out there, we spent most of the time in the pool. I started feeling ill about two days into the trip. My stomach wasn't great.

“But by the morning of the wedding, I had projectile vomiting and diarrhoea. I managed to get through the ceremony, but was feeling awful. I went straight to my room after that.”

Mrs Sims says that it took hotel staff more than three hours to bring her some water to drink, after she phoned down to reception on “numerous occasions”.

“They apologised later and said they were busy,” she added.

“There was an infirmary at the hotel and I was then admitted to that for several hours – still in my wedding dress – while the medical staff gave me painkillers and tried to rehydrate me.”

Other guests at the wedding were also bedridden, she said.

“My mother was ill a day into the holiday,” said Mrs Sims. “Ben, my husband, was ill two days before we went home.

“They were feeling fine on the wedding day – but came with me for support to the infirmary.

“I was diagnosed on site with an infection of my digestive system and severe diarrhoea. I was out on a drip and given two bags of saline to treat the dehydration – penicillin, anti-sickness and tramadol for the pain.

“I was asked by the doctor as soon as she saw me if I was pregnant, as my stomach had inflamed so much from being sick,” Mrs Sims added.

The couple re-staged the wedding ceremony at the hotel on 27 April for their guests, and so they could take photographs – before returning to the UK on 29 April.

Mrs Sims said:

“Your wedding day is meant to be a dream – but it really was more of a living nightmare.”


Thomson has not yet commented on the Sims’ allegations about their ruined wedding.


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