Daughters want answers after mum dies amid claims 350 fell ill at same resort

By Talia Shadwell, ITV News content producer

The daughters of a Lincolnshire woman who died after falling ill at a five-star resort on a holiday in Cape Verde say they have been left searching for answers over her death.

Jane Pressley, 62, from Gainsborough, died just over three weeks after falling ill while on her birthday trip to Riu Palace Resort, in Santa Maria.

Her widower, Michael Pressley, is among 350 other people taking legal action against the tour operator TUI, alleging they all fell ill while staying at the resort.

Mrs Pressley's daughters, Porcia Stow and Lucy Ambrose, are supporting their stepfather's legal battle, and say they want to seek accountability over their mother's death to ensure no one else suffers the pain they have endured.

A picture of Mrs Pressley wearing sunglasses on a sun lounger was the last picture taken of her before she fell fatally ill.

Two days into her trip, she began developing gastric and flu-like symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea, law firm Irwin Mitchell says.

She died three weeks later in hospital in the UK.

Porcia, 30, who was pregnant with her first child when her mother died, told ITV News: "It was heartbreaking, gut-wrenching - really, really difficult."

As a precautionary measure to protect Porcia and her unborn child, she could only see her mum through the hospital door glass, until her final moments.Porcia: "I got to say goodbye. I had to fully PPE up, when I was going in towards the end, and that was hard.

Her son, Parker Ralph, is now just over four months old, and Porcia says he reminds her of her mother.

"There's a lot of my mum in me and he's already a lot like me."

For legal reasons, the sisters can't discuss the details of the allegations around the circumstances leading up to her death, or the cases of the hundreds of others involved in their stepfather's lawsuit against tour operator TUI UK Ltd.The sisters said there had not been an autopsy or an inquest into their mother's death, and they did not have clarity on whether those processes could - or should have - been offered to the family in the UK, or abroad.

Their mum had a pre-existing condition of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but the sisters said the condition was well-managed and it did not stop her from leading a full life.

Despite her condition, Mrs Pressley had weathered three bouts of Covid without ever becoming particularly unwell and was fully vaccinated, her daughters added.

Lucy, 37, said: "She was nowhere near ready to die. She was really active, she was still working, going on holiday. People can lead a normal life with COPD and she was. That's why we know she wasn't ready."

"She was a proper fighter," Porcia added.

The sisters said it particularly hurt to see their mum die so soon after their grandmother.

"Six months after her mum died, that's wrong... She had so much life in her," Porcia added.

According to lawyers at Irwin Mitchell, Jane, a care assistant, and Michael, a food production operative, arrived at the Riu Palace resort on November 27 and returned to the UK on December 12.

Two days into their trip, Mrs Pressley began developing gastric and flu-like symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea, the law firm said.

Mr Pressley recovered within a week of falling unwell.

But Mrs Pressley continued to suffer symptoms, and on Christmas Eve, she was taken to hospital.

The doctors treating her suspected she had a bacterial infection and administered antibiotics.

But she died less than two weeks later on January 5, at around 4am.

Following Mrs Pressley's death, her husband engaged specialist international serious injury lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to launch legal action against TUI UK Ltd in connection with his wife's illness and death, as well as over his own illness.

A death certificate confirmed her cause of death to be "infective exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease," the law firm Irwin Mitchell said.

Lucy, an office manager and mother-of-three, said her mother's deterioration shocked the family.

"We thought mum was just being silly on Christmas Eve when we were told she was on the way to hospital... we thought, 'oh, Christmas Day she will be back. But she just deteriorated.

"Unfortunately she started losing her marbles and that's when we knew something wasn't right."

Lucy said she was going in every day, spending shifts keeping vigil at her mother's bedside.

She slept on the floor to be by her mum, and was horrified to witness her condition decline.

"It was hard. It was like looking after a baby, when mum started deteriorating."

The sisters said their mum had been "excited" about her birthday trip. Now, they are struggled to explain her death to her grieving grandchildren.

Her husband earlier told of his daily struggle to understand what had happened.

"To lose her so suddenly has absolutely devastated us all," Michael Pressley said. 

"She was the most amazing person and enjoyed nothing more than being around family; we’re all totally lost without her. She never even got to meet her grandchild.

“While nothing will ever bring her back, we need some answers. It’s the least we deserve.”

On Wednesday, a TUI spokesperson said: "Our thoughts and sympathies remain with the Pressley family.  As this is now a legal matter, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further."

ITV News has also approached the RIU Hotels group for comment.

Porcia said her mother was deeply missed by her family and those who she worked with as a care assistant: "She was fun - she was just so funny, really, really...such a big heart."

She continued: "I think I would like someone to be held accountable so this never happens again, I want to know what happened, how this was allowed to happen?"

Lucy added: "We don't want anyone else to go through what we went through, even if it just helps one person. The pain we're in - we don't want anyone else to go through it."

"My mum would have been the first to advocate for it.... we're just trying to do what she would want."

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