Travel Company Apologizes for Creating Dummy of Family’s Dead Son in Tribute Gone Wrong

Faye and Andrew Stephens of Willesden, England, have a tradition of celebrating their son’s birthday, even though he had been dead for 4 years. Alex Stephens passed away at the age of 22 when he fell of a balcony in Spain.

Karen Baker, Alex’s godmother, was on vacation with the couple in Jamaica when she decided that she would give them surprise for the son’s birthday. She arranged for the staff to put up balloons and decorations in their hotel room as a tribute, but the staff took it further. They stuff clothing into a dummy of Alex, holding a beer and a birthday cake, complete with tears on the dummy’s face. “I was absolutely horrified,” Baker said. “I have truly never seen anything like it. I still look at photographs now and can’t believe somebody thought to do that.”

TUI UK, apologized to the family and refunded their vacation. “We’re following up with the hotel and believe it was a misunderstanding with no intention to cause upset,” the statement read. “We are in direct contact with the group to apologize and offer a gesture of goodwill.”

See Kathleen Joyce, Travel Company Apologizes for Creating Dummy of Family’s Dead Son in Tribute Gone Wrong, Fox News, December 8, 2018.