Former “Bachelor” Contestant Melissa Rycroft Strickland Has Fallen Sick After Vacationing In The Dominican Republic
I’m sure you’ve heard about the recent spate of tourists dying while on vacation in the Dominican Republic. It’s all over the news. And if you’re a reality TV “personality” who just so happened to visit the DR recently, and you play your cards right, you too can be all over the news! According to WGN, a 10th tourist has fallen victim to a mysterious illness she presumably picked up while vacationing in the DR. Will former Dancing With The Stars/Bachelor contestant Melissa Rycroft Strickland suffer the same horrifying fate, or does she just have diarrhea? Keep your eyes glued to her Instagram to find out!
According to TMZ, Melissa and her family were staying at the Nickelodeon Resort in Punta Cana (Melissas love that place!) when on the second day of their trip, Melissa says she got sick.
Melissa got slimed at the hotel but has since deleted a picture she shared on her social media. She got sick on her second day of vacay, started feeling better, but then experienced other symptoms, including cramps.
It’s interesting … Melissa is the ONLY one in her family feeling ill, and her husband was only drinking beer, so her camp thinks it’s plausible tainted alcohol could be the culprit.
Her posts from Punta Cana did little to belie the turmoil that raged within. On her last day, she appeared to be living her best caftan life. #goals
And upon her return to the states, Melissa posted this happy family photo. Sadly, it would be the last time Melissa ever smiled.
But then, things took a devastating turn. Melissa was forced to get real, and ask her husband or kid to take a picture of her in a weakened state, as she was too weak to take a selfie, plus it’s hard to do so with your eyes closed.
According to Page Six, Melissa went to the doctor and updated her followers via Instagram story.
“Update for everyone asking: More bloodwork done today. Blood pressure was 90/60 so they’re monitoring it,” the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader shared on Instagram Stories. “New meds are making me feel so much better! Test results by Thursday at the latest! But this is good progress!” she wrote.
Rycroft had previously posted, “I have been put on a liquid diet, and given meds for my severe cramping.”
Now, if I got sick after coming back from the DR I’d be concerned too. However, according to WGN, most of the tourist deaths have been attributed to natural causes; primarily heart attack, pulmonary edema or respiratory failure. Several of the decedents were thought to have become sick after drinking alcohol from their hotel mini bar. CNN reports that the FBI is investigating three of those deaths, and are testing the contents of hotel minibars for toxins. Melissa is the first person to report becoming ill at the Nickelodeon Resort, and according to TMZ ,she did have drinks “from the bar cart and imbibed at various bars on the property”. The resort is panicked/investigating.
The Nickelodeon Resort tells us they’ve been in touch with Melissa … and our sources say the hotel hired an outside firm to review the resort’s cleaning and sanitary practices, to see if there’s any link to Melissa’s strange illness.
I have gotten diarrhea while on vacation more times than I care to remember. It SUUUUUUCKS. But sometimes you just gotta gobble that questionable street meat, consequences be damned! Or, as is more often the case, you slip up and get an icy drink with cut fruit, or you absentmindedly eat a little lettuce, and next thing you know, you’re #dead.
Oh thank god! Not for nothing, The Washington Post says “there’s no evidence that the spate of death and illness in the Dominican Republic this year is out of the ordinary for any popular tourist destination” meaning, have you seen the numbers for Las Vegas?
Pic: Instagram