Lying in bed with a broken foot, in a dirty hospital with no running water, where no one spoke English, was not howTheresa Barham envisaged her holiday inMorocco.

She booked a break away to Agadir to celebrate her husband Christopher’s 70th birthday inNovember last year.

But after a fall left her with a broken foot in two places, things went from bad to worse.

What started out as a foot injury escalated to a serious infection and two blot clots due to poor care, and Theresa had to be rushed to Southend Hospital on her return to the UK.

Theresa says: “Our lovely holiday turned into a nightmare when I went to that hospital. The longer I was there, the more ill I became. At one point I was convinced that I would be going home in a box.”

Theresa and Christopher, from Canvey, had booked their holiday through a travel agent and had paid for holiday insurance.

She says: “We spoke to the travel agent about possible destinations and finally decided upon Agadir in Morocco. It seemed like an interesting place and it was hot during November, the time of year we wanted to go.

“When we arrived it was raining, but the hotel was lovely. On day three I was walking down some steps and I missed the last one and landed on my foot. I found out later that I had broken the fibula and tibia and my foot was just hanging there limp.”

The hotel called out a doctor to give Theresa pain relief and she went to sleep. The next day she went to hospital.

Theresa, 66, says: “The next day the rep said he would not be able to come with us to the hospital, but gave us an address to get to it by taxi.

“When we arrived, the hospital was inwhat looked like the back streets of Agadir.

Not one person in the hospital spoke English and my husband and I had no idea what was going on.

“We were taken to a very oldfashioned looking x-ray machine and told that we had to pay upfront, even though we had paid for insurance.”

It was indicated to Theresa that she would need to have an operation, but the language barrier meant that she did not have a clear idea of what would happen.

She says: “I still have nightmares nowabout going into a room with three doctors who held down my head and legs and gave me an epidural in my back. I was wide awake for the operation where they put screws in my foot. It was like a horror movie. I had no idea what was happening.”

She was then put onaward where there was no running water and hygiene standards were poor.

Teresa says: “In the ward there were only auxiliary nurses to give you a bed pan or some food and water.

“Conditions were thirdworld standard and there wasn’t any running water for three days apparently due to heavy rain. It meant we were only given a third of a litre of water per day and I developed a urinary infection.

“I had a catheter in, but because of the lack of water to drink, it started to backfire and I asked to have it removed, because I knew it was making me unwell.”

Theresa says there were toilets overflowing and there was noway to keep herself clean.

She says: “My husband had to bring me food and water every day to keep me going. The neighbourhood was so rough, I wouldn’t let him stay too late. It meant I was by myself most of the time in a hospital where I could not speak to anyone.

“My children would cry at the end of the phone, because they wanted to get me home.”

Theresa’s daughter contacted the travel agents and the insurance company to get their mumhome, but were told that she could not flywith a broken foot.

They made a breakthrough when they called the British Embassy.

“A lady called Michelle from the embassy came to see us. She spoke the language and was able to find out for us what was going on.

“She was shocked at the conditions I had been left in and said she should been notified as soon as I had been admitted to hospital.”

Theresa was eventually flown to Casablanca and then back home to the UK.

On arriving home, she began to feel very unwell and her husband had to call an ambulance.

She ended up staying in Southend Hospital for 14 days to repair the damage caused.

Theresa says: “I found out that the screws that had been put into my foot in the first operation were not fixed in place and were just floating there. The surgeons at Southend had to re-break my foot and insert screws into two big plates in my foot.

“They also pumped my body full of antibiotics to try to fight the infection.”

Theresa was told she had two blood clots and had to go back into hospital recently for ten days because the urinary infection was so severe she had to be treated with an intravenous drip.

“I have lost five months of my life being ill and on crutches.

My husband has had to do the household chores and I am waiting to get my life back,” she says.

“What should have been a relaxing holiday turned into a nightmare. We have had no apology or acknowledgement from the travel agent, even to see if we’re OK.

“You think that if you buy a package holiday and pay for insurance that you will be looked after, but that’s not the case.”