Woman who broke ankle in holiday slip awarded €25k
Margaret Walsh and her husband Gerard Walsh were holidaying in Lake Garda at the Hotel Splendid Palace Italy in July 2006 when the accident happened.
Judge Patrick J Moran noted it was not the only mishap to befall Ms Walsh on the holiday as the bus taking them home from the hotel to the airport broke down en route and she had to hobble the last half-mile on crutches.
Ms Walsh of Belmont Park, Ballinlough, Cork, said: “I had gone for an hour-long walk along the lakeshore. My return was through the hotel gardens. I went into the indoor pool area... I was going down for a look.”
However, even though the plaintiff was holding the handrail on her way down the steep marble stairs, she slipped on a wet step and it later turned out that she had broken her right ankle.
The plaintiff’s husband, Gerard Walsh, asked the tour operator’s representative for a taxi to bring them from the hotel to the airport three days later at the end of their holiday.
“The representative declined and said there would be no one on the bus and that my wife could have the back seat to herself. She was right — there were only 10 people on the bus but it broke down on the way to the airport and she had to hobble half a mile to a service station,” Mr Walsh said.
Judge Moran ruled out any claim that there was contributory negligence by the plaintiff.
The judge made an order of €25,000 in compensation in favour of the plaintiff against the defendants, Cork City Travel Ltd of Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork, and Tony Collins Travel Agency Ltd trading as Top Flight Ltd, Jervis Street, Dublin.
