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Thursday, September 7, 2017

Kansas Couple Warns Others After Alleged Tainted Alcohol Turns Mexican Vacation Into Costly Nightmare

A Kansas City, Kansas, nurse and her husband are warning others after the woman became sickened by alleged tainted alcohol at a Mexican resort.

In May, Cindy and Jeff Otte stayed with four other couples for a friend's birthday at The Royal Playa Del Carmen, an all-inclusive resort in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, KTLA sister station WDAF in Kansas reported Wednesday.

“When we got to Señor Frogs, I ordered a margarita, and I drank ... like a quarter," said Cindy Otte. "I went to the bathroom, came back, and all of sudden I had like a personality change – I started laughing and laughing and laughing, and then I got really paranoid for a second, then I had this ... tunnel vision, and I grabbed my husband,”

Otte said they had two shots of tequila while toasting their friend about two hours before going to Señor Frogs. She said she collapsed after a few sips of her margarita there.

“She just dropped, dropped on the ground lifeless,” said Cindy’s husband, Jeff.

Jeff said they got in a taxi, and headed back to the resort.

“She kept getting worse, so I tried pouring water on her thinking she’d come out of it any minute, maybe she’s just sick, then she said 'hospital,'" he told WDAF. “Of course I didn’t know the hospital number, there was no 911, it was a very hopeless situation, I didn’t know what to do.”

They were told it would be $850 for the ambulance to the hospital. When they got there, they were asked to fork over even more money.

“The first thing they wanted was $2,000 up front,” Jeff added.

After hours of unconsciousness, hospital staff diagnosed her with dehydration and recommended she stay the night — for an extra $2,000, to which the Ottes declined.

“It was a really hopeless, helpless feeling trying to get anybody to help us,” said Jeff.

Mexican authorities seized thousands of gallons of bad alcohol in the country just a few months after the Ottes were there. The seizure came after the U.S. State Department issued a warning about tainted alcohol to vacationers in Mexico.

Cindy said she thinks she was drugged and targeted because she was wearing expensive jewelry.

“I wore this watch out, and I think this watch did it,” added Cindy, “A little girl did come up to me and put a bracelet on me, so someone thought maybe she tagged me.”

Now the Ottes want others to be aware of the dangers.

“Had I not been able to come up with the money, they wouldn’t have seen her, and if she went into cardiac arrest, she would have died,” Jeff said.

The Ottes say they didn’t drink any alcohol for the remainder of their trip, and didn’t leave the resort. As of August, the U.S. State Department has advisories for travel to Mexico because of recent violent crimes and kidnappings.



from KTLA http://ift.tt/2eONB3n

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