A mum was nearly killed when she was "squashed" by an obese woman on a waterslide, she has claimed. Jemma Joslyn, 32, said her trip to Turkey with her two children turned into a living nightmare after the incident. She alleges that her internal organs were crushed when another holidaymaker hurtled down the slide and slammed into her. Jemma paid £2,700 for an all-inclusive two-week holiday at Liberty Lykia Hotel in Turkey last September. The mum-of-two was rushed to Esnaf Hospital in Fethiye, Turkey, suffering from a split liver, internal bleeding and severe kidney damage. Jemma, who underwent life-saving surgery, spent the next eight days recovering in Turkey before returning home to Seaford, East Sussex. She has been left with a huge scar down her stomach and still suffers from the consequences of her kidney damage as she only has one of the organs due to donating the other to her mum in 2015. Jemma is now taking legal action against Thomas Cook after claiming that there were no safety precautions in place at the hotel to monitor who was coming down the slide and that her aftercare was "appalling".The health care assistant said: "This holiday was my first in four years with my two girls and it was a big treat." We met up with my friends, Natasha Gander, 32 and Bill Andrews, 39, who flew in on the flight after us and were set to have an amazing break.
"But I'd only been in Turkey for only 14 hours when we'd decided to go to the water park at the hotel."There was no staff to direct anyone on the slides but I'd told my two young children to wait 10 seconds between each other so they could get out of the way."My daughter was supposed to follow me down afterwards but instead, an overweight woman came down the slide just moments after me.
"I had reached the bottom of the slide but all I saw were these two feet coming towards me - I knew there was no way I could move in time."I was thrown backwards in the water, and my eyes were rolling back into my head."I was coming in and out of consciousness as the pain was so severe."It was horrific - an English translator told me after an emergency CT scan, my only option was emergency surgery.
"I'd split my liver and severely damaged by the kidney which was terrifying as I'd donated my other one for my mum, 59 via the Kidney Donation Scheme, in May 2015."Thomas Cook wasn't helpful at all - they didn't bother to find out where I was, where my kids were and I was left to sort out my own care. "Jemma claims she was then told her insurance didn't cover the hospital care as she had been taken to a private hospital.
She added: "I had only taken £150 with me as we were all-inclusive, but now I needed £5,000 to have lifesaving surgery."My friend, Bill, thankfully was able to pay for it as I couldn't have it until it was paid."If my friends hadn't been there, I would be dead and my children would have been in Turkey alone."After the almost fatal incident which resulted in a three day stay in an intensive care unit in Turkey, followed by a further five days on a ward Jemma claims that Thomas Cook did nothing to help. Jemma added: "My children were hit with a vomiting bug that had swept through the hotel soon after my accident. "No extra support was offered and my mum, 59 had to plead with Thomas Cook to get both herself and my dad, 76, to Turkey."But they weren't warned about the contagious bug and were taken to the hotel."When my mum rang the 24-hour emergency line, the staff didn't know anything and had no idea where my children were. "At one point, Natasha had five kids sleeping in only three beds as that was all she had."A spokesman for Thomas Cook said: "Both our UK-based welfare team and our in-resort team have been in touch with Ms Joslyn on several occasions following this accident. We also arranged for her parents to fly to Turkey to be with their daughter."Solicitor Magdalena Knez, from Slater and Gordon, who is representing Jemma's legal case, said: “Thomas Cook has confirmed they have received our correspondence and are looking into the case."We are waiting for a further response and are hopeful we will have a successful outcome for Jemma who has been through a very traumatic experience.”