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Ryan Mendelson was in Cape Verde when he was kneed by a hotel staff member
A man who required surgery after he was kneed in the back of the leg by a staff member while on a package holiday in Cape Verde has been awarded £18,000 in compensation.
Ryan Mendelson, 33, from Manchester, said he “fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes” after he was “physically assaulted” at TUI holiday resort, Hotel RIU Touareg.
Mr Mendelson, who was on holiday with his mother last January, criticised the “over-familiarity” of staff, and said: “I’ve seen before how close they can get, but this was totally unacceptable.”
RIU Hotels and Resorts have since apologised for the distress caused by the “misguided attempt at a playful interaction by a member of the hotel’s entertainment team”.
Describing the incident, Mr Mendelson said: “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.
“I felt my knee click, twist and go out of place, and I fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes.”
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An MRI scan revealed Mr Mendelson had torn a medial patellofemoral ligament
He added: “I was in a state of shock and couldn’t move.”
Mr Mendelson said other holidaymakers had to pour water on him as he sat in the the hot sun for 30 minutes waiting for someone to get a wheelchair from reception.
“Mum was distraught. There were no first aiders around the pool and no hotel staff to help.
“And once the wheelchair did arrive, it didn’t have a raise-up bar for my leg.
“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.”
Mr Mendelson said: “He wasn’t a friend of mine. I didn’t have any ‘banter’ with him.
“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.”
Forced to delay his flight home scheduled for the next day, Mr Mendelson said when he was discharged from hospital he was ordered by hotel staff to pay a fee for the extra night’s stay.
“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,” Mr Mendelson said.
“But what was more upsetting was that we couldn’t fly home as scheduled because of my knee – that was soul-destroying.”
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Mr Mendelson said he had to pay for two seats on his flight home due to his injury
When Mr Mendelson arrived back in the UK he was told he needed surgery for ligament damage.
“My knee’s still not 100 per cent,” he said. “And 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.”
Accident abroad specialist Paul Rimmer from Hudgell Solicitors was part of the legal team that represented Mr Mendelson.
Mr Rimmer said: “This was an extraordinary case that was tantamount to a physical assault from an employee working at a world-renowned hotel chain.
“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.”
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A resort representative said the staff member “never intended to cause harm”
TIU was approached for comment, which was then provided by RIU Hotels and Resorts as the two are partnered to sell holiday packages.
A spokesperson for RIU Hotels and Resorts has said: “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”.
