Teenager, 19, sues TUI for more than £500,000 claiming food poisoning from 'undercooked burgers and chicken' at five-star Egyptian resort left him with 'irreversible' kidney failure
- Marshal Brunt, 19, from Hampstead, north London, blames burgers and chicken
- He says they made him ill during stay at five-star Jaz Aquamarine Resort in Egypt
- He claims he was struck down with acute food poisoning on third day of the trip
- But he was flown by air ambulance to hospital nine days later with kidney failure
- Mr Brunt wants £500,000 from TUI after 'staff failed to ensure all food was safe'
A teenager who claimed he got food poisoning so bad it gave him kidney failure while on holiday is fighting TUI for over £500,000 compensation.
Marshal Brunt, 19, from Hampstead, north London, believes under cooked burgers and chicken at the five-star Jaz Aquamarine Resort in Egypt made him ill.
He was struck down with acute food poisoning on the third day of the trip and was flown by air ambulance to hospital nine days later with kidney failure.
The boy's lawyers claimed it was caused by an infection from the virulent Shiga Toxin bacteria (STEC).
They say he needed 38 days of dialysis and suffered extensive physical damage from the sickness.
Mr Brunt wants £500,000 from travel giant TUI as he claims resort staff failed to ensure all food and drink was safe for consumption.
Marshal Brunt (pictured), 19, from Hampstead, north London, believes under cooked burgers and chicken at the five-star Jaz Aquamarine Resort in Egypt made him ill
The teenager was 15 and was building up to his GCSEs when his family booked the week-long all-inclusive holiday to Egypt in October 2016.
His lawyers said the resort offered 'an array of restaurants and facilities in a self-contained complex' as well as 18 pools and three water parks on the Red Sea.
But they claim he got sick from the food and suffered 'severe neurological complications' including a seizure in November 2016, and temporary blindness.
Mr Brunt says he has to live with 'irreversible' damage to both kidneys, while his overall kidney function has been slashed by 60 per cent.
His lawyers say his work prospects have been dented by his 'life changing injuries' and medics predict he will develop advanced chronic kidney disease.
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He is suing TUI UK for over £500,000 claiming staff failed to ensure all food and drink was safe for consumption.
Mr Brunt's barrister Robert Hunter said if his kidney failure was not caused by a food or water-borne bacteria it must have been an infection from one of the pools.
He said in claim papers: 'The contraction of STEC - alternatively, illness resulting from an alternative food or water-borne bacteria that was contracted in the resort - is an event that cannot normally happen without negligence on the part of the defendant or its suppliers or servants.
'The ''instrument'' that caused the illness, loss and damage, namely the resort and its kitchen, alternatively the resort and its swimming pool, was at all times in the management and control of the defendant and its suppliers.'
He was struck down with acute food poisoning on the third day of the trip and was flown by air ambulance to hospital nine days later with kidney failure. Pictured: The Resort
Compensation is being claimed for the impact on all aspects of Mr Brunt's life - including that his schooling was derailed by his illness and his GCSEs suffered.
TUI accepts the teenager was taken ill and hospitalised while on holiday but disputes food poisoning was the source of his illness.
The firm also questions the extent of his injuries and the amount of compensation claimed, court documents showed.
TUI's barrister David Boyle denied negligence by the travel giant or the resort's operators.
He said the company intends to call evidence from experts in the fields of microbiology, public health, psychiatry and renal disease.
No date has yet been fixed for the full trial.
