A five-star Co Kerry hotel has apologised to a woman who spent three weeks in an induced coma after contracting Legionnaires disease at its spa.
On the 6th August 2015, Mary Kelleher from Cork was staying at the Muckross Park Hotel in Killarney with her husband.
They were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and decided to make use of the spa facilities.
But a number of days later, Mary began to feel unwell and was eventually hospitalised with Legionnaires Disease - a type of lung infection - and spent three weeks in an induced coma.
This morning, the High Court was told a confidential settlement had been reached between both parties.
An apology from the Muckross Park Hotel was read out in court - where they acknowledged the "profound distress" caused to Mrs Kelleher.
They also said changes have been made to ensure an incident like this doesn't happen again.
Solicitor Amy Connolly read out a statement on Mrs Kelleher's behalf outside court today.
A 5-star Co. Kerry hotel has apologised at the High Court to a woman who spent 3 weeks in an induced coma after picking up Legionnaires disease at its spa.
Mary Kelleher and her husband were staying at the Muckross Park Hotel in 2015 to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. pic.twitter.com/qypDDhpmOk— Stephen Murphy (@StephenMNews) February 20, 2020
She said: "I am lucky to be alive today, but I will have to live with the consequences of contracting Legionnaires disease for the rest of my life.
"What upsets me most is that my illness could have been prevented.
"I hope that by highlighting this issue, the hospitality industry will sit up and take note that Legionnaires disease is a very real risk to all customers: spa operators need to be alert to the dangers lurking in their water systems."
