The family of a retired teacher, who is believed to have died on a cruise vacation with his wife after being infected during a norovirus outbreak, is hoping for answers after deciding to sue the company.
“All we want now are answers to help us understand what happened and what can be done to prevent this ongoing, horrific ordeal from happening to anyone else,” he said. lamented Dianna, the wife of victim Alan Forster, 77, according to “The Independent” on Monday.
Grieving, the widow of the septuagenarian confided that she cannot help but “blame herself” for the death of her husband, after having insisted on spending a month on the Arcadia ship of the P&O Cruises company last October , according to the British media.
Before boarding on September 3, the retired teacher was in good health, she said, while the couple had already taken part in 47 cruises, several of which were already planned for the future.
Except that after two weeks of traveling between the United States and Canada, with stops notably in New York, Boston and Halifax, Nova Scotia, the man began to suffer from diarrhea, cramps stomach and vomiting, we can read.
At the same time, about 128 of the 1,959 passengers aboard the ship reportedly suffered from an outbreak of norovirus, a particularly contagious virus that commonly causes gastroenteritis, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Last week, the government agency listed 2024 as the worst year for stomach illness outbreaks on cruise ships in more than a decade.
But a week after reporting his symptoms, the septuagenarian collapsed, before finally being placed under medical observation, but no treatment was suggested to him, according to his lawyers from the Irwin Mitchell law firm, reported “The Independent”.
The man was eventually transported to a hospital in Saint John, New Brunswick when his kidneys began to fail, and the patient died after three weeks.
According to Me Jatinder Paul, the family’s lawyer, the speed at which Mr. Forster’s health deteriorated is “deeply worrying”, he who considers it “essential” that “investigations be carried out into the failures on board of the ship” as well as “delays in obtaining the medical treatment that Alan needed,” noted the British media.
For its part, a spokesperson for P&O Cruises said it was “saddened” by the death, indicating that, according to a preliminary examination, “care was initiated, then specialized examination and support was facilitated at a hospital » as soon as the medical staff were informed of the deterioration of the patient’s health.
“We will investigate the alleged facts and respond appropriately to lawyers once the investigation is complete,” the company said, according to “The Independent.”
