Woman suffers 300 bed bug bites at Auckland motel

  • Breaking
  • 27/12/2013

A woman bitten by more than 300 bed bugs at an Auckland motel wants all of her medical expenses to be paid.

Debbie Roome was staying at Auckland Airport Kiwi Motel in Mangere earlier this month when she suffered a severe allergic reaction to the bites, which covered her body in painful, itchy welts.

The Christchurch local was visiting Auckland for a night for a friend's graduation. After falling asleep she woke to find her bed infested.

"I woke up at 3:30am and shone my cell phone on the bed and saw these bed bugs scuttling off in every direction. I didn’t want to wake my friend up, so I sat on the edge of the bed for the next two hours and told them when I checked out that the room was infested and I’d like a refund," Ms Roome says.

It wasn't until she reached the airport to take her flight that she approached staff at the Air New Zealand Koru Lounge for help.

"It turned out to be over 300 bites. By the time I was supposed to fly home I had swollen up in these big welts all over my body and my face. My lips were turning blue. Air New Zealand wouldn't let me fly home because of the swelling and the possibility of going into shock and not being able to breathe," she says.

She then received medical treatment and returned to Christchurch two days later. But just before Christmas the bites flared up again, forcing her back to the doctor to receive a course of antibiotics and skin cream.

Mark McDonald is the "bug king" and has made a living out of eradicating the parasites, and says Ms Roome's case is one of the worst he's seen.

"That's at the upper end of the scale, 300 bites could equal up to 300 bed bugs that were on her," he says. 

Ms Roome has received a refund for her hotel room, but only half of her expenses have been reimbursed and she wants to be compensated further.

Auckland Airport Kiwi Motel would not talk to 3 News today. 

3 News/RadioLIVE

source: newshub archive