For this issue I interviewed Christian Venture, Palace Vacation Planners (formerly Chaza Travel) rep.

Christian told us that about 2 yeas ago, when he worked for Olympus Tours in Playa del Carmen, he had to take care of a family who, like most tourists, had come to get to know the place, have fun and relax.  Mandy was a member of this family and she was pregnant. A couple days after their arrival, Ashley, Mandy's younger sister, came to the hospitality desk looking for Christian to tell her that her sister was having complications with the pregnancy and that she was at the doctor's office.  When Chris went to see her, he found Mandy being taken back to her room in a wheel chair.  He didn't want to bother her, and called her on the phone to find out what the doctor had said, but Mandy didn't want to talk about it on the phone and asked Chris to go up to her room. Christian told her about the hotel's no visitor to the rooms policy and Mandy immediately located the manager to explain what was happening (Mandy was on the brink of a miscarriage and had to be transferred to a hospital in Cancun as soon as possible.)

Christian made a call to her agency and obtained transportation at no cost, but due to the delicacy of the matter, the doctor told them that she had to be transported in an ambulance.  Chris started calling several ambulance services because the hotel was charging a very high fee.  He finally got the ambulance at a fair price and when they arrived at the hotel to pick up Mandy, Chris offered to stay with her the whole time, even though he knew that this could cause a problem for him with his agency for having left his post during working hours.  The only thing he thought was right to do was to call his boss and board the ambulance.  This was a very good decision because the paramedics didn't speak English.  When they arrived at the hospital, Mandy was taken to the emergency room while her distressed family and Chris waited. Finally, a doctor walked out and gave them the bad news:  Mandy had lost her baby.  Mandy was released that night but Chris wouldn't let them go back to Playa del Carmen alone at that late hour, and even less so in a taxi, so he offered to take them in his car.

After a few days, Mandy felt much better and, in order to thank Chris, invited him to dinner the night before their departure.

The good news is that, because of this sad occurrence, they formed a solid friendship, and Chris told us that in July Mandy will give birth to a precious baby boy, who they will name Christopher.  Do you think they chose this name in honor of Chris?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .