Helen Priestley, 42, was left with gaping wounds in her leg after a waterslide crash in Benidorm. Photo / Supplied
Helen Priestley, 42, was left with gaping wounds in her leg after a waterslide crash in Benidorm. Photo / Supplied
A mother almost lost her leg after an accident on a Benidorm waterslide left her with gaping wounds that got infected with flesh-eating bugs.
Helen Priestley, 42, split her leg open in two places while riding the chute in Spain and had to have two operations after her cuts became poisonous.
The mother-of-one is suing the hotel for its "death trap" slide and hopes to get it shut down before someone else gets hurt, reports Daily Mail.
Mrs Priestley, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, said: "The slide I was on is a potential death trap. It's only a matter of time before an adult or child is seriously injured on it."
Helen spent £850 (NZ$1,618) on last minute holiday for her, husband Leon, 40 and 15-year-old daughter Danielle.
"The water current was really strong and it slammed me into the opening. I was in absolute agony."
She had to battle the current to get off the slide and it was then she saw how serious her injury was.
"I started nearly passing out from the shock and blood loss. I had a big massive hole in my leg like an indent."
She was rushed by ambulance to a private clinic where she was x-rayed and put on an IV Drip before being discharged.
They didn't see a rep for two days after the hotel refused to pay for a wheelchair so they were forced to book one themselves.
She said: "I was in constant pain but they wouldn't help us at all from then on. I was in intense pain and couldn't wait to get home."
Mrs Priestly was injured as she went down the White Tornado slide (pictured) at the four-star Magic Tropical splash resort in Benidorm. Photo / Supplied
She returned home but six weeks later she went back into hospital in agony.
Doctors at the Rochdale Infirmary diagnosed her with Necrotising Fasciitis - the deadly flesh eating bug.
She said: "A cloudy, milky liquid was pouring out of my leg it was disgusting. One time I woke up and my bed was soaking from all the liquid and it was that bad the nurse thought I had spilled a glass of water on the sheets.
"But as the poisons were gone I felt a bit better."
She was transferred to the high dependency unit in the Royal Oldham Hospital where they battled to save her leg with two emergency ops.
She added: "I actually felt better and had a cup of tea. But then the Drs looked at my leg and said I might lose my leg and told my husband and daughter I could also die.
"I was hysterical I couldn't believe all this had come from a water slide."
She was rushed by ambulance to a private clinic where she was x-rayed and put on an IV Drip before being discharged. Photo / Supplied
Mrs Priestly - who runs her own cleaning business with her husband- added: "It was like something out of a horror film.
"There were massive holes in gaping wounds in my legs and you could see the bone."
Now her wounds have healed but she is very wary of her scars which she says "look like shark bites."
Since her accident she has been contacted by other holidaymakers who are believed to have been injured on the same slide.
But she says that despite this her travel operator Jet2 have not apologised or shut down the slide and so she has had to take legal action.
Paul Stevens, from Simpson Millar solicitors who is representing Helen, said tour operators have a duty of care to check that hotel facilities like water slides are safe.
Now her wounds have healed but she is very wary of her scars which she says "look like shark bites". Photo / Supplied
He said: "It defies belief if the same slide that severely injured Helen is open and still causing injuries.
"Common sense dictates that waterslides shouldn't have any design features that prove an obstacle.
"If people are getting injured then something is wrong with the slide and it should be shut down."
