Dominican Republic mystery illness: Newlywed US couple honeymooning fall 'violently ill' with high fever and extreme vomiting
The honeymoon plans of a newlywed couple from Virginia had to be scratched out after things went violently south.
Skylar Martin and Derek Martin, who got married on June 8 in Hanover County headed to the Dominican Republic for what was supposed to be a week-long honeymoon. Despite the worrisome articles about the people getting sick while visiting Punta Cana, the couple decided to go ahead with their plans of enjoying an all-inclusive stay at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Punta Cana.
While "everything was lovely" on Friday, the day that they reached their destination, where they "hung out at the beach," Derek told NBC12 that everything turned into a nightmare come Saturday night after they had dinner at a Japanese hibachi restaurant located at the resort. Soon after the meal, Skylar complained about feeling sick, which Derek says was surprising because she usually has an iron stomach.
“We pretty much ate all the same things. I think our alcohol options were a bit different, but neither of us really overindulges in that sense either," Skylar said, to which Derek added, "Skylar sort of has an iron stomach and if anyone is getting sick it's normally me. So I thought that was sort of weird."
Things went from bad to worse towards midnight, when Skylar woke up to "extreme vomiting." She elaborated, “I had a fever, I was in and out of consciousness for a while. I would wake up to vomit; my body would wake itself up to get more out.” In a Facebook post she put out to update her family and friends regarding the nightmarish honeymoon, she wrote, "I became violently ill Saturday evening and was in and out of consciousness, vomiting every 15-20 minutes for 6 hours. I finally made it to the hospital and was diagnosed with a bacterial blood infection."
Skylar claims they have no idea how she could have contracted the infection, but she realized pretty quickly that other guests staying at the Hard Rock Hotel were also experiencing similar symptoms and were taken to the hospital. “They administered fluids, did a fecal, urine and blood sample,” says Skylar, adding, “The only results we got back were the blood. So that’s really all we have to go on.” Derek revealed that he heard that about 150 people staying at the resort had gotten sick just days before him and his wife had arrived. “We met a gentleman from California, his daughter and his son had gotten sick on separate days,” he says.
While Skylar has revealed in her FB post that they are both currently healthy, Mississippi woman Tracy McCraw had also revealed that she fell ill during her holiday to the Dominican Republic last month. During her return flight from Punta Cana after a "disastrous" 5-day trip to the country, she saw other passengers suffering similar flu-like symptoms as herself. "It wasn't like you usually go on a plane and you're leaving and see other people sick on the plane," she had told the New York Post, adding, "There was one lady next to me who was all bundled up and I could tell she was sick. It was obvious."
McCraw's complaints were leveled soon after a reported ninth American tourist died in mysterious circumstances while vacationing in the Dominican Republic.