A widow is suing TUI for £560,000 after her husband drowned during a ‘poorly monitored’ snorkelling lesson while on an all-inclusive Caribbean dream trip.
Roy Fawcett, a fellow snorkeler and diver, died in the waters off Paradise Island, Dominican Republic. This happened two days prior to the close of an October 2017 package vacation booked by TUI.
Susan, his wife, stayed in shallow waters. Mr Fawcett, however, joined other snorkelers for advanced lessons in deeper water, and did not return to the group.
The 58-year old was soon spotted floating face-down in the water.
A coroner determined that Mr Fawcett drowned on an unmonitored holiday trip in September 2018.
Susan, age 60, filed a lawsuit against TUI, the holiday giant, at the High Court of London. She claims that the operator was responsible for her husband’s death.
According to her lawyers, Mr Fawcett wasn’t adequately prepared and was left unsupervised for the dive.
Roy Fawcett died on Paradise Island in the Dominican Republic with a group he was snorkeling. He had been there two days prior to the start of an October 2017 package. Pictured is Mr Fawcett, his wife Susan
TUI denies responsibility for the accident and TUI also disputes liability.
London’s High Court learned that the death of Mr Fawcett occurred two days before his wife and he were scheduled to fly back from their two week stay at Club Hotel Rui Bachata. The couple had booked it through TUI.
They booked the fateful trip to Paradise Island. Mrs Fawcett claimed that they had understood it was offered by TUI.
Paradise Island: Mrs Fawcett swam alone on the surface while her husband went with a group to learn snorkelling and then went out into deeper waters offshore.
After the lesson had ended, forty minutes later Mr Fawcett did not return with the remainder of the group.
Andrew Young, Mrs Fawcett’s barrister, said that the snorkelling supervisor saw him “floating face down in water and not moving” immediately.
London’s High Court was informed that Mr Fawcett died two days prior to his departure from the Club Hotel Rui Bachata where he had spent two weeks. They booked their stay through TUI. This is the couple at their wedding.
According to him, the supervisor “took no other action than to raise the alarm with a colleague who was travelling from the excursion boat to the island shore. And went to investigate.”
The crew then sent Mr Fawcett back to shore, supervising the staff and Jamie Elkaleh (29) a fellow snorkeller.
The speedboat took him back to the mainland, and Mrs Fawcett claims that the excursions guides had negligently not arranged for an ambulance.
Instead, he arrived at the hospital with a truck to transport him and was then informed by his wife that he had passed away.
TUI also sued Mr Elkaleh as well as Aimee Alle, a 29-year-old snorkeller. Aimee watched Fawcett in his final moments, even trying to save him from himself.
According to court records, it was Mr Elkaleh that put Mr Fawcett into a recovery position. He also freed him from his tongue when he was eventually pulled onto the island’s beach.
The nurse Ms. Allen then instructed helpers to get the man moving because “incoming waves were still covering his faces.”
It is said that both were mentally damaged by the experience, with Ms. Allen developing an ‘acute stress disorder’ while Mr. Elkaleh being affected by PTSD, depression and PTSD.
According to Mr Young, the incident had an equally severe effect on Mrs Fawcett.
He stated that she witnessed her husband’s corpse being returned to the shore of the island and all the incompetent efforts to revive and rescue him.
He was resuscitated by his mother, who accompanied him back on the speedboat to PuntaRucia. After that incompetent effort failed to revive him, she drove the pickup truck to the nearest hospital.
The staff was supervising the crew and Mr Fawcett was sent back to shore with Jamie Elkaleh (29), a fellow snorkeller. Pictured, the Club Hotel Rui Bachata in the Dominican Republic
“Upon her arrival in the hospital she was immediately separated from him and told later that he had passed away.”
This week, the case was brought to court for a preliminary hearing. It will determine what expert testimony is required at trial.
A jury heard that there remain questions regarding the exact cause of Mr Fawcett’s deaths. This includes speculation over whether or not he struck his head, and fluid in the lungs.
Roger Eastman, Mr Young stated that the case against Mr Fawcett stemmed from an insufficient monitoring of Mr Fawcett during his diving trip.
He said: ‘Mr Fawcett wasn’t given sufficient guidance or training in how to use his equipment, he was not properly supervised when he was doing the snorkelling, and when it was realised that he had been taken ill and needed assistance, that was incompetently carried out.
“We believe that the operator of excursions, as well as indirectly TUI were responsible for his passing.”
TUI claims that the snorkelling excursion was not included in the all-inclusive travel package and is therefore out of their legal liability.
After the 2018 Inquest was completed, the coroner recorded his verdict. He stated that there were questions about the supervision of the snorkelling trip.
He said, “Sadly Roy got in trouble…the organisers were not sure what to do and holidaymakers did everything they could to help,”
An exact date is not set yet for the final trial of the damage claims.