Boulevard Turístico del Este,
Punta Cana,
23000
La Altagracia,
Dominican Republic
Last Friday June 14th my 10 year old daughter was violently ill after breakfast at CIAO a restaurant located at our resort. We were all joking that morning that we were grateful to have gotten through the week without anything happening. None of us felt safe as the week progressed and families around us started getting sick. Our daughters symptoms however aren’t typical of food poisoning or a flu. About 20 minutes after we finished breakfast she said she was having trouble seeing and felt like she was going to faint. My mother in law tried to help her walk back to the room. After a few steps Our daughter stopped being able to see at all and her entire body went limp. My husband, son and I who were at the pool at the time all came running to her. As we approached her I could see that her coloring was totally off. Her lips were white and she was shaking all over. She was in and out of consciousness. My son speaks Spanish and tried to get us help. Not one of the employees, security guards helped us. It was as if we weren’t even there or they were told not help. Our daughter started throwing up and we eventually were able to carry her back to our room. She continued to have loss of vision, diarrhea, fever, shaking and hives from head to toe. Her skin is now dry and corse as if she was burned from the inside out. My husband looked for the clinic that is on the resort and found it closed. He payed off an employee that said he knew where it relocated too and when he got there nothing/ no one was there. I had read an article prior to leaving about a doctor that had given his child zofran after experiencing similar symptoms while out of the country. I had zofran with us that our doctor prescribed to my daughters for motion sickness. I gave my daughter the medication and it helped her to stop throwing up so she could stay hydrated and get whatever was in her system out. We were trying to avoid the hospital at all costs. Families and children that we met throughout the week were ending up there and seemed to be getting worse from being there. Not given medical attention right away, not given the right medication and having to pay people off for care. We had our daughter wrapped in blankets with ice packs around her neck and feet to cool her off and help her fever to break. Her coloring slowly returned and we were able to get home the next day. She is still covered in hives her stomach is sore, her skin looks and feels burned and she is exhausted. But she is Alive and we made it back home. Before we left my husband did speak with a manger of the resort but was told that there was basically nothing he could do. We have filed a police report and her doctor filed a report with CDC. She had a urine test done as well to determine what was in her system. I don’t know if our daughter would have made it if my family hadn’t acted so quickly. To see her body lifeless and feel the fear from her when she was in and out of consciousness and said she couldn’t see is an experience I am still processing. I am beyond grateful she is home with us and alive. But my heart is so scared, angry, confused and sad for everyone that has loss someone due to this. I pray that these families receive justice and eventually some type of peace. I know that we were lucky and I hope that our story can help be a piece of this very confusing seemingly unnecessary, and tragic puzzle. | Symptoms: Diarrhea, Fever, Nausea, Vomiting, Shaking, Soreness
