A GRANDFATHER has died after what his family describe as a "holiday from hell" in Turkey.

David Wallace suffered a fatal heart attack after being forced into a run-down hostel when he discovered his coastal hotel had gone bust.

The Salford grandad had flown out on a two-week holiday with lifelong pal Ernest Tinsdale. 

The friends arrived at the Ali Baba Apartments, near the coastal town of Kusadasi, in the early hours of the morning to find it was closed and boarded up. Stranded, the pair were taken by their taxi driver to a hostel in the town - some 40 minutes away from their intended resort.

Five days later Mr Wallace suffered a heart attack and died while undergoing emergency surgery. His family, who raced to be at his bedside but arrived too late, believe the stress of the mix-up and the 'appalling conditions' in the hostel contributed to their dad's death. They blame the travel firm for the booking mix-up and say more support should have been offered to the elderly holidaymakers.

Pal Ernest also required medical treatment and Mr Wallace's son, Michael, stayed behind to ensure his safe return.

Although Mr Wallace, from Agecroft, was 75 and had previously suffered a heart attack, his family say he kept in good health and continued to work three days a week as a joiner.

The pair had originally been offered alternative accommodation after their families in Salford contacted the booking team, but the pals did not want to move because they feared further disruption. But Michael said he felt the travel firm should have been more supportive.

He said: "They picked up their tickets two days before they flew out. You would think the company would have some way of checking whether the place was still open. They were forced to stay in a horrible hostel. It was a full of students and there was a terrible atmosphere. It was like the Bronx where they were.

"We were trying to sort things out over in the UK. When we heard dad had been taken ill, me and my sisters rushed over there in a panic but when we arrived he was already dead.

"No-one was able to speak English. Ernie was also ill. Not one person from the company got in touch to see how he was doing.

"When I got back and complained about it they asked me to write down what happened in a letter as if I had lost a piece of luggage."

The Irish-born grandad has three sons and two daughters as well as several grandchildren.

The trip was booked through Escape Holidays, part of the Co-operative Group, which said that an on-site rep had not been part of the package ordered by the pair. But a spokesman apologised for the accommodation error.

He said: "We would like to apologise for failing to inform Mr Tinsdale and Mr Wallace about the closure of the apartments, which is unrepresentative of the high standards we have at Escape and was the result of a technical failure within our systems, which we have subsequently addressed.

"In this instance our investigations remain on-going, and we will contact Mr Tinsdale and the family of Mr Wallace with our findings in due course. Our sympathies are with the family and friends of Mr Wallace."

Tweet