Ormskirk nurse fights for access to proper care after nightmare plunge at Mexico hotel

Sep 27 2012 by Jamie McLoughlin, Ormskirk Advertiser

A NURSE from Ormskirk who remains housebound after a nightmare fall during a family holiday to Mexico is fighting for access to the rehabilitation which could aid her recovery.

Mother-of-two Marie Honey was enjoying the final day of a family holiday in November last year when she fell down a hole covered with a wooden board at the Riviera Maya Hotel, in Mexico.

The near 10 foot drop landed Marie at the bottom of a concrete-lined hole festooned with insects, debris and rubbish. She fractured her spine in three places, damaged her coccyx and suffered multiple cuts and bruises in the fall.

Lawyers are now working with her to fight for access to a thorough rehabilitation package for the experienced medical professional who has been largely housebound and unable to work since the incident. Marie, 48, had been walking through the hotel complex with her sister, Kathryn, prior to the incident.

The wooden board that concealed the hole had been painted green to blend it in with the surrounding grass.

Marie, who has almost 30 years’ experience as a consultant nurse, said: “We had all been so excited for our holiday in Mexico and to see my niece Kerrie get married.

“It was beautiful and the wedding day was perfect, but the memories have been ruined forever by what happened on my last day out there.

“I didn’t even notice the cover because it was painted green and it gave way before I even realised what I was standing on.

“It was only afterwards that I saw that the cover was not only just a sheet of wood but it also looked like it was rotten.

“I banged my head in the fall and I think that I was knocked out. When I came round I started screaming because of the pain but the only way to get out of the hole was to climb a ladder that the hotel lowered down.

“It took every ounce of energy in my body to do it and I was in agony.”

She added: “I was eventually allowed to fly home to the UK. Thankfully, the medics in the UK have been fantastic but I still have a long way to go and I am still not sure what my future holds.”

Tour operator TUI UK has not admitted liability for the incident, although it is understood they are investigating the circumstances behind it with the hotel management.