Fijian resort’s shocking bid to allegedly pay off one guest poisoned by her poolside pina colada cocktail – as disturbing new details are revealed of six women’s desperate fight for life
A guest who fell ill after drinking contaminated cocktails at a five-star resort in Fiji was offered $160 in compensation and asked to sign an indemnity agreement, her friend claims.
Four Australians, a Fijian and an American were rushed to hospital on Saturday after drinking in Warwick Fiji on the holiday island’s Coral Coast, with symptoms including nausea and vomiting.
Four of the victims have now been discharged, including a mother and daughter from Sydney who returned home on Monday evening.
A second Australian mother and a Fijian woman, 22, are in a stable condition at Lautoka Hospital.
The Fijian woman was on holiday at the Warwick resort with friends when she suffered a seizure and foamed at the mouth after consuming pina coladas from the pool bar.
She was also taken to Lautoka Hospital in critical condition where she is being treated in stable condition.
A male friend who accompanied her on the trip said he was shocked by the lack of care the resort staff gave her when the emergency occurred.
He said the resort has also done its utmost to disclaim any responsibility for what happened.
Four Australians, a Fijian and an American were rushed to hospital on Saturday after drinking in Warwick Fiji on the holiday island’s Coral Coast, with symptoms including nausea and vomiting (photo: a staff member – not linked to the incident – holds bottles as she clears the bar at Warwick Resort in Fiji on Monday)
Five of the victims have now been discharged, including a mother and daughter from Sydney who returned home on Monday evening (Photo: Tourists were seen enjoying a drink at the pool bar on Monday)
“They made my friend sign a compensation form and provided a small refund of about $160,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
“I wasn’t happy about this… They didn’t ask if they would contact the victims and provide assistance.”
The friend said the group had been drinking at the bar just after midday on Saturday before returning to their rooms.
At 5 p.m., he and the others went to check on their 22-year-old friend to get her ready for dinner, only to discover that she was seriously ill.
He said they immediately called the front desk, but they “took their time” and “didn’t act like anything was wrong.”
When they went to the reception, the group noticed that several other guests were unwell.
The friend said the resort staff was not helpful, so he called a doctor friend who advised him to immediately take her somewhere to stabilize.
“There were no medical staff at the resort,” he said.
One of the pool bars at the Warwick resort, which has been around for 40 years
“We had to take her in our rental car to a small clinic in Sigatoka to stabilize her before taking her to Sigatoka Hospital.
‘There were no nurses or proper medical equipment [there] or. There they ensured that she could breathe properly and was under control and then took her to Lautoka.
“She had to undergo CPR on the way.”
The friend said their ordeal had turned their “perfect weekend” into a “living nightmare”.
“Even at the hospital, no one from management called us to check in with us,” he said.
The victim’s parents traveled to the hospital to be by her side, while her friends have since returned to Suva.
Georgia Sandoe-Simpson, 19, and her mother Tanya Sandoe, 56, return to Sydney on Monday
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the resort for comment.
Among those affected by the suspected alcohol poisoning were Tanya Sandoe, 56, and her daughter Georgia Sandoe-Simpson, 19, from Sydney’s northern coast.
Georgia had a seizure after drinking the cocktail and was the sickest of the couple.
Ms Sandoe and her daughter appeared happy to be back on home soil as they wheeled their own luggage out of Sydney Airport shortly after 7pm on Monday evening.
The mother and daughter beamed as they were reunited with Ms Sandoe’s parents, David and Pamela, and another male relative at a side exit, escorted by Australian Federal Police officers and out of view of most waiting media.
The incident in Fiji comes after six tourists, including two Australians, were killed after drinking drinks laced with methanol at a two-star hostel in Laos in November.
While Fijian authorities have yet to determine whether the latest incident is due to methanol poisoning, the country has again urged Australians to exercise caution when drinking abroad.
Dean Long, CEO of the Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA), told Daily Mail Australia that methanol poisonings are rare but can happen anywhere in the world.
‘These events do indeed happen. They happen in Australia, they happen all over the world so they are not destination specific,” he said.
More than 400,000 Aussies traveled to Fiji last year – a holiday hotspot considered a ‘safe destination’ for tourists.