A trip to Cancun took a troubling turn for members of a family from Gatineau. One of them would have been drugged without his knowledge and would have “lost the card for 12 hours”, he claims.
“Everything was weird. I said to myself: “Well, let’s see, he’s not my brother.” He looked crazy,” explains Nadine Matte, who remembers the bad memories of her trip last January.
“We knew it wasn’t just the drink,” she adds.
His brother Daniel reportedly experienced an episode of psychosis in Cancún after consuming alcohol on the hotel site.
“We had a lot of fun, we were in the pool, we took photos. I had a shot. From there, it was a blackout,” says the 48-year-old man. It was his sister who told him everything the next day, when he regained consciousness.
“I was served a drink or a shot with something in it,” he says.
The events occurred on January 18, 2024, two days after the family’s arrival in Mexico.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DANIEL MATTE
None of the group seemed to recognize Daniel.
“When he’s at the party, he dances, he’s jovial, he has fun with everyone. This was the complete opposite of him. He was aggressive, ran everywhere, he even bit my son-in-law,” says Nadine.
Unexpected expenses
During the events, described as a “black hole” by Daniel, the latter allegedly fell down the hotel stairs. He was then reportedly taken by ambulance to hospital for treatment of numerous injuries.
“I fell down eight cement steps. I split my forehead, I was all bloody, I had bumps on the back of my head, several fractures in my left foot,” he says.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DANIEL MATTE
His hospital stay would have cost him nearly $5,000. “They took tests, and if I had spent the night there, it would have been $2,000 more,” adds Daniel.
The Gatineau resident would also have paid for an Airbnb and for a return flight scheduled for the day after the events.
“Like the Republic”
The family is still swimming in incomprehension about this “horrible journey”. Recent media stories have confirmed their fears. let’s remember that The newspaper received several testimonies from travelers who claimed to have been drugged in the Dominican Republic. A 25-year-old Quebecer also died last January in Punta Cana, after a fall during a psychotic delirium.
“When we saw this on the news in relation to the Republic, we said to ourselves that this is really what happened to Dan. The story is similar,” says Nadine.
“I consider myself lucky. It could have been so much worse,” says Daniel.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DANIEL MATTE
Caution when traveling
CAA-Quebec invites the population to follow a few instructions when consuming alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages, such as keeping an eye on their glass or keeping one hand above it.
“It’s an opportunity to raise awareness among people to be extra careful when traveling,” says David Marcille, communications advisor for CAA-Quebec.
Travelers can also find advice and warnings related to their destination on the Government of Canada website.