Cyprus-Forum.com

[angelsaska]

My son recently broke his toe at a local hotel which is open to the public. We currently live here in cyprus and was spending the day at the beach when i got a phone call from my sons friend telling me he was injured. The staff at the hotel rang a private ambulance and he was taken to a private clinic for treatment against our wishes as we were only round the corner and on route to take him to the nearest local hospital. Upon arrival at the hotel was told he'd been taken off and quickly made our way to the clinic! when arrived my son was shaken and scared! the doctor explained that his toe was dislocated and broke and had to be snapped back into place, my son refused any injections and asked for him to wait untill i arrived but he didnt, instead he tryed to freeze my sons toe with ice which caused him to keep moving it because of the pain which aggrovated the doctor causing him to grab and slam my sons foot on the bed snapping at him to keep his foot still!!! I was unaware of this untill we reached home and had chance to speak to my son regarding the incident!
We visited the Hotel the following morning regarding what happend and they were unwilling to accept any resposabilty for what had happend as we were not residents of the hotel, we took photos of where it occured and it is viably unsafe, the hotel management say its perfectly safe!!! is there any way we can redeem the costs somehow for the private clinic? we did not call the ambulance or request the treatment?? My son is 12 so is a minor?? would love to hear from anyone. many thanks

Please see pic of pool vent that runs round pool which trapped my sons toe which apparently is safe!

Pic number 2 is the mess of my sons toe! we took him to the local hospital yesterday and he had to have it pulled straight and put back into place as the private clinic had not done so!! he is now on crutches for 6 weeks!

[Sotos]

What do you mean that the hotel is open to the public? While anybody can just walk in any hotel you are not supposed to use the hotel facilities unless you are a guest of the hotel or have some sort of membership. Accidents like that happen. If you want to minimize them then don't leave your son alone in places that you believe are unsafe. A medical insurance is also a good idea.... if you have one it will probably cover all or part of the clinic cost.

[angelsaska]

The hotel is on the coast and allows people of the public to use their facilitys! They dont mind the public purchasing food and drinks on their premises or using the pool as long as they are parting with money but when it comes to the saftey of us they dont want to know!
Im aware that accidents like this happen and it could quite well have happened anywhere wether we were present or not! but i do think they should accept some responsabilty as it happened on their premises.

Many thanks

[SKI-preo]

Unless you can show that the hotel breached its duty of care then you have no prospects of success.

If a you allow your clumsy child to run around like a mental patient without proper supervision you will be blamed and the government will take your son away from your for his own protection ,so pull your head in.

[angelsaska]

LOL

Genuine anwsers only please.......

[Sotos]

Unfortunately I don't think you can do anything about this. What would you do? Sue the hotel and waste more money and time in a case you will probably not win? Just don't visit this hotel again if you think it is unsafe and from now on be more careful where you leave your son. Worst things could happen to him if you and him are not careful!

[angelsaska]

Totally agree with you Sotos, wont be going back there! My son is very responsable and it was a genuine accident as he was stood on the side of the pool, jumped in but his foot became trapped in the vent and twisted his toe round as he landed in the water. We dont allow him to go off on his own, this was the first time as he was with a friend, he wont be doing it again, thats for sure.

[Milo]

It would be dangerous to own a hotel that serves foreign nationals without it having substantial public liability insurance tourists get injured daily wether their fault or the fault of the hotels, there are horror stories in some countries when tourists are killed by faulty items or dangerous pools etc. It would kill the hotel future business if the injury or death was,nt dealt with professionally. Suggest you go back and ask to see the policy and tell them you are making a claim for injuries. That's what it's for.

Public liability literally means that you are liable for all members of the public while they are on your property. You are liable for their safety and the safety of their possessions from the moment they arrive to the moment they leave. Should they have an accident while on your property, or should you cause an accident on their property then they can put in a legal claim for compensation against you personally and against your business.

As you were not there, them dealing with the situation immediately by calling an ambulance and getting him to the clinic was a damn sight better than letting him sit there in pain, if things had been much worse and he was unconscious then it's exactly correct. The fact that they sent him to a private clinic is what they do with all tourists who have hopefully health insurance to cover costs. It may well be a money maker I know one clinic in the east that only opens in the summer
season purely as it's worth it. That's as maybe, but if the clinic charged you for unsatisfactory treatment then you complain to them also.

But your first port of call should be the hotel who have a duty to protect all on it's property, they may well say it's not their fault, but they also have to prove it. Just saying so is not enough. Surprising really that they did,nt pay the costs the sensible outcome as they did see the injury and it's certainly not one that could be self inflicted. If it had been a tourist sent to that hotel by tour operators they would have not had the same attitude I suspect.

Accidents happen unforeseen ones that's why professional business' s open to the public cover themselves with insurance.

You have photo evidence and receipts maybe get your lawyer to send a letter? The next person may well end up with more than a broken toe

[bill cobbett]

Looking at the pictures of the grille above... some of the bits that make up the grating are broken or not in correct places, which gives larger than usual gaps..

Would like to see another picture taken with a measuring scale in camera shot to judge the size of those openings.