Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
A Detroit man became severely ill during his vacation in the Dominican Republic and had to stay in the ICU for several days for treatment. Alejandro “AJ” Jones told the Detroit Free Press he vomited, felt pain in his stomach, and blacked out after having lunch and drinks with a friend on the second day of his Puerto Plata vacation in early June. He spent the next five days sick and bedridden before flying to his home in Florida, where his symptoms persisted and he collapsed on the floor. He then flew to Detroit and was taken to an ICU. According to Jones, he was only breathing at 10 percent and stayed at the hospital for another four days. Jones is now feeling much better, but he and his doctors have not determined what happened to him. “Something happened in the Dominican,” he told the newspaper. “The hardest part is I’m scared... I’m never going again, that’s for sure.” Nine tourist deaths have been reported on the island since May, and a number of others have reported getting extremely sick while in the Caribbean nation.