wrecked

A young couple’s two weeks of passion in the sun quickly turned to pain following an excruciating bedroom injury, which ended up throwing cold water over their holiday and, ultimately, their entire relationship

As she jetted off on holiday with her then-boyfriend, Harriet Smith* had no idea that their dreamy trip would result in an x-rated injury – and, ultimately, the death of their once-sizzling sex life.

Celebrating the end of their finals, the students, then in their early 20s, were in a jubilant mood as they landed in Tunisia for what should have been a blissful two-week break. They enjoyed plenty of romantic moments both inside and outside the hotel room as they looked ahead to a “new chapter.”

But then, around halfway through the holiday, a wince-worthy bedroom blunder through cold water over their dreamy getaway.

One night, after enjoying dinner and a few drinks together, things became especially steamy between the pair, who were still very much in their “honeymoon period”. Sadly, this “night of passion” would be their last.

Speaking with the Mirror, Harriet recalled how, “right in the middle” of their intimate moment, her poor other half began “howling” in pain, screaming out, “Oh, god, oh god.” As Harriet herself put it: “It wasn’t even post coital, it was mid coital.”

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Harriet, from the Midlands, told us: “I just remember him howling out and just thinking he was joking and like hopping around and then thinking, ‘S*** this is serious’.”

They immediately ceased their amorous antics. It was dark, and so the issue wasn’t immediately clear. Then Harriet realised what had happened. She revealed: “His foreskin had gotten stuck, and he couldn’t move it.”

Looking back more than 20 years on after the agonising blunder, Harriet, now 47, reckons their wild bedroom antics contributed to the horror injury. And their ordeal was far from over.

A “private” sort of person, Harriet’s partner was deeply “embarrassed” as he headed to A&E by himself, having to deal with the additional hurdles of being far from home, in a land where he didn’t speak the language.

Worried Harriet waited in their room for news. He arrived back around two hours later, with doctors having given him something to numb the excruciating pain. From that point on, however, it was clear that the second half of their holiday would be far less idyllic than the first.

Harriet shared, “It just obviously significantly impacted the rest of the holiday. There are before-and-after pictures where we’re smiling on camels and looking really loved up, and then there’s the after pictures where he just looks in pain, and he probably was.”

While the first week of their trip was spent camel riding, trying out extreme sports, and exploring local cities, the second was far more low-key, with plenty of relaxing by the pool and chaste early nights. Naturally, sex was off the table for the rest of their stay, with Harriet’s boyfriend being scared to even hug her or become “aroused” in any way.

When they returned to the UK, Harriet’s partner had to have an operation. It would be “at least six weeks or two months” until they slept together again, which, as remarked upon by Harriet, “is quite a long time when you’re 21”. She added: “Honestly, it was never really the same again”.

As well as physical intimacy falling flat, Harriet also found that her partner was too humiliated to discuss the issue with her and, even though she was “very sympathetic”, there wasn’t really much she “could do to help”.

They stayed together for about another year after the Tunisia incident, and, looking back, Harriet believes the injury ultimately spelt doom for the relationship. She reflected: “It was always something. I was worried about hurting him. So I think it really took the wind out of our sails.

“It was a real passion killer. And I think he probably had that association with me that, you know, although it could have happened to anyone at any time, it happened to us. I don’t think it just ruined the holiday, I think it was probably not a relationship killer, but certainly quashed things in the bedroom.”

Until now, Harriet, who fortunately hasn’t been put off sex in the long run, has kept her story secret and has only ever confided in a few very close girl pals.

For a while, she’d “forgotten about it”, having “blocked it out”. However, being a mum of teenage boys has made her sympathise with her former beau’s plight all over again.

Harriet empathised: “I just think, ‘Oh my god, poor thing’. You know, that’s your nightmare as a man to have something like that happen!”

Nowadays, Harriet is no longer in touch with her ex, who now lives overseas with his wife and children. As far as she’s aware, there doesn’t appear to have been any lasting damage to his private parts.

She noted: “Obviously, the fact that he’s been able to have children, he’s sorted that out then. I mean, that obviously didn’t cross my mind at the time, but yeah, you know, everything’s in working order.”

*Names were changed in this story

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Tourists ‘ran in terror’ after a 90mph tornado flattened a popular Butlin’s resort, uprooting trees from the ground and ripping roofs from chalets. Now, the site looks completely different

Roofs were ‘ripped like paper’ from this once-thriving Butlin’s resort that has now taken on a completely new breath of life.

Back in 1947, a 150-acre stretch of rolling farmland – sandwiched in between mountains and sea – was transformed into a Red Coat holiday camp, after previously being used as a training centre for the Admiralty and Merchant Navy during World War Two. Located in Pwllheli, in Wales, it had the capacity to welcome a whopping 8,000 visitors at any one time, and even boasted its own miniature railway that whizzed holidaymakers from the centre of the complex over to the beach.

Like any classic Butlin’s site, the resort boasted a huge outdoor swimming pool with a five-tier water feature, along with a boating lake, ballroom, tennis courts, cosy cabins, and thrilling fun fair rides. In 1987, it is believed the camp bought the Vekoma Boomerang, a stomach-churning roller coaster that consisted of six loops (three of which went backward).

When it came to entertainment, the Pwllheli site also did not disappoint. “Ringo Starr appeared at the camp during his pre-Beatles era,” reports Butlin’s Memories. “His group, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, appeared for a 13-week engagement in 1960. The booking was due to start on June 4, but Ringo declined due to his impending marriage. In the end, the marriage was cancelled so he could go to Butlin’s.”

However, on August 14, 1989, the site was wrecked by a freak tornado that sparked carnage in the seaside town. According to North Wales Live, tourists ‘ran in terror’ as 90mph winds ripped roofs from lodges, chucked boats into the air, and uprooted trees from the ground.

“I remember I’d just come back in from having tea. It had been a gorgeous day, the sun had been shining all day long,” Ian Bond, who was at the camp when the tornado hit, said. “We went back into our chalets, then all of a sudden there was this huge bang and a crash. Then it went really quiet.”

Ian explained how when he looked outside, all he could see was ‘grey dust everywhere’ before the terrifying twister became visible. “It came up over the headland near where the cable cars used to be, and up over the boating lake. It literally split all the trees and you could see the path where it had been,” he added.

“Then it came towards the chalets. We ran back inside and then it hit us. It ripped everything to pieces. When it passed, we looked up and the roof of the chalets were just gone, ripped off.”

With the majority of the camp flattened, and more than 35,000 forced to cut their holiday short, the tornado caused an estimated damage of £2 million. A £30 million investment scheme was announced a year later, and the site rebranded as Starcoast World – boasting a new subtropical water-world known as StarSplash.

But by the end of 1997, the Pwllheli camp was transferred to Haven Holidays – and the survivIng Butlin’s features were bulldozed. Chalets were replaced with static caravans, and the funfair and miniature railway were removed.

Now, the area is home to the Hafan-y-Mor Holiday Park, which was given an AA 5 Platinum Star award last year. The popular Haven site features an adventure village, water park and pool, as well as four-lane slide and flume. Visitors can now opt to stay in Caravans, Lodges, or Apartments – with three-night stays costing as little as £49.

*Prices based on Haven listings at the time of writing.

Which UK seaside town should get a new Butlin’s site? Have your say in the comments section below

Holidaymakers Lee and Mandy Trivett were looking forward to relaxing on their ‘deluxe’ Ayia Napa balcony with a nice cup of tea. Instead, they were left staring out at the ‘view from hell’

A couple looking forward to a “peaceful, relaxing” holiday were left dismayed after realising they were staring out at the “view from hell”.

Lee and Mandy Trivett spent £2,215 on a holiday at Tasia Maris Hotel in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, wanting a break from daily life after the deaths of several friends.

Looking ahead to their a six-night stay with Jet2 last summer, Lee and Mandy, both 58, had hoped to spend their mornings sipping coffee on the ‘deluxe’ balcony, switching to a nice cup of tea and biscuits at night.

Unfortunately, their dreams were quickly punctured after they realised the view from their balcony was anything but serene. An alfresco cuppa would be completely out of the question.

Instead, the Trivetts allegedly found themselves looking out onto a noisy building site, complete with scaffolding, netting and forklifts rumbling all day long.

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Lee, from Hull, Yorkshire, recalled: “When we got to the hotel at about one o’clock in the morning we thought it looked beautiful. We were exhausted so we just dumped the cases, brushed our teeth and went to bed.

“In the morning, we got up and opened the curtains to go on the balcony. It was just looking over a building site. I was absolutely shocked.

“There were forklifts going up and down and there were workmen going in and a generator on all day and all night, which you could hear through the double glazing.”

The home support worker continued: “It got worse as by the end, there were more and more workmen coming on the site. We hadn’t been informed that this work was going on.

“We couldn’t even sit out on the balcony. The last thing you wanted to look at was that. When I was talking to people in the hotel, we were originally led to believe nobody worked on the building site through the summertime. But that wasn’t very accurate.”

Jet2 has claimed that guests were made to tick a box saying they “understood” building work was “taking place nearby” and so the Trevitts should have been aware of what was going. The company has also claimed that its team “made multiple attempts to contact Mr Trevitt” on the holiday but did not get a response.

However, the couple claim this only happened after they were already four days into their week-long holiday.

Lee and Mandy, who works as a seamstress, says they were left feeling as though they’d “wasted their money”. They’ve claimed that nobody had mentioned the building work to them prior to the trip being booked, and say the situation wasn’t made apparent by looking at photos online.

According to Lee: “Me and my wife had booked it relatively late as a couple of our friends had passed away early in the year so we felt like we needed to get away and have a relaxing holiday to wind down.

“We just wanted to sit on the balcony after a night out and have a cup of tea and a biscuit. We didn’t bother. Looking at scaffolding and netting and men walking about and security guards walking about making noise at two in the morning, was not our idea of being relaxed.

“My wife said, ‘I don’t want to look out at that’. The balcony was a waste of time and the upgrade was a complete waste of money. The room on the website was nice, it promised being larger with a better kitchen and balcony.”

He added: “It was all useless though as where you wanted to get up in the morning and sit on the balcony and have a coffee and get ready for the day and again at nighttime, it was a waste of money.

“We got up and left the room as we didn’t want to listen to the noise. On the photos on the website, you couldn’t see any of the building work. There was nothing.”

Although the couple did speak a Jet2 rep at the time, they say they were uninformed that their location was due to them getting an upgraded room. While they did manage to find another room, by this point, their holiday was already more than half way over.

Lee continued: “I mentioned to our Jet2 rep and she said, ‘they are the upgraded rooms, that’s where they’re based’. How is that an upgrade? Looking onto a building site and as far away from the pool and bar and restaurant [as possible].

“They’ve given me the view from hell. It took them a day to respond and then she told me there were no rooms available and then the following day she said we might have a room for you.

“To be honest, we were only there a week and we were four days in by then. If we’d have been informed beforehand that the upgraded rooms had that view then I’d have said ‘I don’t want an upgraded room’.

“We just weren’t told. We just wanted a nice peaceful holiday and we didn’t get that.”

A Jet2 spokesperson issued the following statement at the time: “We believe it is very important to provide all relevant information to customers ahead of their well-deserved holidays, and at the time of this booking we made it very clear to customers that building works were taking place nearby.

“Customers were required to tick a box showing that they had read and understood this, and the information was also highlighted in the booking documentation.

“However, once we were made aware of Mr Trevitt’s feedback when he was on holiday, we immediately liaised with the hotel to source an alternative room and we made multiple attempts to contact Mr Trevitt by mobile, text, and by leaving a letter in his room – but we did not hear anything back.

“As an award-winning company, we do everything we can to help customers in the rare event that everything isn’t perfect. However, we were unable to provide such support on this occasion as we did not hear back from the customer.”

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“Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” is a catchy, provocative title for writer-director Laura Piani’s debut feature, but it is a bit of a misnomer. Her heroine, Agathe (Camille Rutherford), may harbor that fear deep inside, but it’s never one she speaks aloud. A lonely clerk working at the famed Shakespeare and Company bookshop in Paris, she gets lost in the love notes left on the store’s mirror and complains to her best friend and coworker Felix (Pablo Pauly) that she was born in the wrong century, unwilling to engage in casual “digital” connection. Highly imaginative, Agathe perhaps believes she’s alone because she won’t settle for anything less than a Darcy.

Good thing, then, that Felix, posing as her agent, sends off a few chapters of her fantasy-induced writing to the Jane Austen Residency. And who should pick up Agathe from the ferry but a handsome, prickly Englishman, Oliver (Charlie Anson), the great-great-great-great-grandnephew of Ms. Austen herself. She can’t stand him. It’s perfect.

“Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” is the kind of warm romance that will make any bookish dreamer swoon, as a thoroughly modern woman with old-fashioned ideas about love experiences her own Austenesque tumble. While Agathe initially identifies with the wilting old maid Anne from “Persuasion,” her shyly budding connection with Oliver is more Elizabeth Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice.” A pastoral English estate is the ideal setting for such a dilemma.

The casting and performances are excellent for this contemporary, meta update: Rutherford is elegant but often awkward and fumbling as Agathe, while Anson conveys Oliver’s passionate yearning behind his reserved, wounded exterior with just enough Hugh Grantian befuddlement. Pauly plays the impulsive charlatan with an irrepressible charm.

But it isn’t just the men that have Agathe in a tizzy. The film is equally as romantic about literature, writing and poetry as it is about such mundane issues as matters of the flesh. A lover of books, Agathe strives to be a writer but believes she isn’t one because of her pesky writer’s block. It’s actually a dam against the flow of feelings — past traumas and heartbreaks — that she attempts to keep at bay. It’s through writing that Agathe is able to crack her heart open, to share herself and to welcome in new opportunities.

“Writing is like ivy,” Oliver tells Agathe. “It needs ruins to exist.” It’s an assurance that her past hasn’t broken her but has given her the necessary structure to let the words grow. The way the characters talk about what literature means to them — and what it means to put words down — will seduce the writerly among the viewers, these discussions even more enchanting than any declarations of love or ardent admiration.

If you’ve read any Austen (or watched any of the films made from her novels), Piani’s movie will be pleasantly predictable in its outcome, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an enjoyable journey. It’s our expectations, both met and upended, that give the film its appealing cadence. It never lingers too long and is just sweet enough in its displays to avoid any saccharine aftertaste or eye-rolling sentiment.

There’s a salve-like quality to “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life,” a balm for any battered romantic’s soul. It may be utter fantasy, but it’s the kind of escape you’ll want to revisit again and again, like a favorite Austen novel. And, as it turns out, our main character is wrong. Jane Austen didn’t wreck her life, rather, she opened it up to the possibilities that were right in front of her.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.