Just reading the Mirror news site, and came across the holiday news. is this a belated April fools?
Mirror Story
EXCLUSIVE: BRITISH COUPLE'S NIGHTMARE HOLIDAY
By Catherine Martin
JILL and Gavin Sands wanted an unforgettable sunshine holiday.
And they certainly got one - after a snake bit her in bed, they had to flee an escaped bear and the couple quit their villa when burglars ransacked it.
Not to mention their 12-year-old daughter being rushed to hospital after being badly hurt in a fall.
Hours later Jill, 35, was admitted herself after the stress of the trip gave her hypertension.
The mum-of-one was too ill for the flight home. And when they caught another two days later - surprise, surprise - it was delayed for five hours.
Yesterday, back at home, Jill said: "We've got to be the unluckiest people on earth.
"It was like someone had a death wish against us."
They had travelled with another family of four for a relaxing two-week break in Turkish resort Calis.
First, they found their villa had no air conditioning
And Jill was nearly swept out to sea by a giant wave on her first day on the beach. Then their friends phoned home and learned their cousins had been arrested in connection with the London bombings.
Worse came the following night as Jill and Gavin, 30, went for a moonlight beach stroll.
She said: "I poked my head into this beach hut and found myself staring at a giant bear. I was just an inch away from it.
"Gavin heard it growl and we ran for it. We hid in a half-built hotel nearby for two hours, convinced the bear was coming after us. I was absolutely terrified." By now they had fallen out with their friends, whom they had known for seven years, and have barely spoken to them since.
Just a day after escaping from the bear, Jill was bitten by a snake as she slept, causing her leg to swell to twice its size.
A couple of nights later she heard a noise downstairs, which she thought was the children.
But she explained: "It turned out we were being burgled. They took our wallets, phones, travellers' cheques and cash."
Halfway through the trip they were moved to another apartment. Disaster struck again the day before they were due to fly home.
Jill said: "Our daughter fell down a set of stairs with a handful of plates. There was so much blood we thought she had severed a finger."
But at the hospital it was Jill that doctors were worried about. She said: "The stress took its toll and I ended up with hypertension.
"I was kept in overnight and missed the flight home.
"Our insurers finally arranged another one, but at the airport there was a five-hour delay."
And she added: "It wasn't a holiday, it was more like a survival challenge."
Calis will never look the same.
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