Ryan Mendelson, from Manchester, was left needing surgery after the ‘unprovoked assault’ at Hotel RIU Touraeg during his Tui holiday which he said turned into a nightmare
A holidaymaker has secured thousands of pounds in compensation after a hotel worker ‘kneed’ him in the back of the leg during what he described as an ‘unprovoked assault’, leaving him needing surgery.
Ryan Mendelson, from Manchester, said he ‘fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes’ when a member of the entertainment team at the Hotel RIU Touraeg carried out the attack.
Working with law firm Hudgell Solicitors, he has now been awarded £18,000 in compensation. “This staff member wasn’t a friend of mine. I didn’t have any ‘banter’ with him,” he said in a statement.
“I just don’t know why he did it, other than being over-familiar and thinking he was just having a laugh. But the way I see it is that it was an unprovoked assault.”, reports the Manchester Evening News.
The incident occurred on the penultimate day of a two-week package holiday to Cape Verde booked with Tui. “I was standing at the bar-pool area talking to two girls I’d met and, all of a sudden and completely out of nowhere, he came behind me and kneed me in the back of the knee,” Ryan said.
“I felt my knee click, twist and go out of place, and I fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes. I was in a state of shock and couldn’t move.”
Fellow holidaymakers helped keep Ryan cool by dousing him with water whilst a wheelchair was brought for him. “Mum was distraught. There were no first-aiders around the pool and no hotel staff to help.
“The guy from the animation team who attacked me kept apologising, but he was forced to take me to reception as there was no-one else around.”
Ryan was rushed to a local hospital by ambulance, where he underwent an X-ray and received a knee injection. He was subsequently hit with a hefty 860 Euro bill covering the ambulance ride and hospital treatment.
“We were also told we had to pay for another night in the hotel,” he explained. “But they eventually settled that bill as Mum said we’d contact every newspaper in the world to tell them what had happened – even if it meant us sitting on the steps of the hotel all night.”
The family were ultimately compelled to postpone their flight home – and Ryan was forced to book two additional seats on their return journey and don a leg brace to support his injured knee. “Missing the flight was soul-destroying,” he revealed.
Back in the UK, an MRI scan showed he had ruptured a medial patellofemoral ligament requiring surgical intervention. Ryan now describes his knee as ‘still not 100%’.
“I still suffer the odd pain after surgery – often in cold weather. I deal with it the best I can, and I also see a therapist once a week, which helps from a mental side of things.”
Ryan slammed Tui’s “scatty, arrogant and dismissive” response to the incident, and called on hotel staff to maintain proper boundaries.
He stated: “Animation teams are always over-friendly. I’ve seen before how close they can get, but this was something completely different and totally unacceptable.”
Paul Rimmer, a specialist in accidents abroad, was part of the legal team representing Ryan and described it as ‘an extraordinary case’. “It was tantamount to a physical assault from an employee working at a world-renowned hotel chain,” he stated.
“Put simply, Ryan was mistreated from the outset.
“It was, frankly, a disgrace that the hotel asked the Mendelsons to pay for another night when they were stranded because of the actions of one of their staff members.
“Tui’s response was also substandard. Ryan and his mother desperately needed support throughout the ordeal, but they reacted sluggishly from start to finish and were nowhere to be seen when two of their clients reached out for urgent help.
“We have, sadly, noticed a growing trend of blue-chip tourism groups not offering the care and support their customers deserve when a holiday abroad turns into a nightmare.
“Ryan’s situation was unique, but shoddy customer service has become all too common. Holidaymakers are therefore recommended to seek expert legal advice if they feel entitled to make a compensation claim following an accident abroad.”
When approached for a statement, a spokesperson for RIU Hotels and Resorts expressed: “At RIU Hotels and Resorts, we are very sorry for the injury sustained by Mr Mendelson during his holiday.
“The incident stemmed from a misguided attempt at a playful interaction by a member of the hotel’s entertainment team and was never intended to cause harm. We recognise the pain and distress this caused and sincerely regret what happened.
“The matter has been fully investigated, and has now been settled with the customer. At RIU we are fully committed with the safety and wellbeing of our guests and make a daily effort to prevent incidents like this from happening.”
TUI was also approached for a comment.