Widower sues airline for €5m over death of obese wife refused seat on three flights

Tipsy McSwagger · 29-01-2013 01:06PM

I wash myself with a rag on a stick.

SligoLady · 29-01-2013 01:10PM

up for anything wrote: »

Why don't people take the time to read the article properly before commenting?
Read it again, just read it!

Whoops, just realised what I did there!! Cringe!

squod · 29-01-2013 01:10PM

stevenmu wrote: »

It looks like they were willing to accomodate her, and in all 3 cases had 2 seats set aside for her. But in all 3 cases she wasn't physically able to get to her seats, and they didn't have the specialist equipment to carry her to them.

Realistically she needed an air ambulance.

29-01-2013 01:15PM

No comment on excess baggage? Really?

suicide_circus · 29-01-2013 01:16PM

Not the airlines fault. She couldnt get out of the wheelchair into the seat and they couldnt move her, they can hardly have been expexted to bring a fork lift into the cabin.

Neyite · 29-01-2013 01:24PM

If she was ill, her travel insurance should have flown her home in an air ambulance. But, flying with circulatory ailments or other conditions can be dangerous too.

She was over 30 stone. Should the airlines have to provide hoists in the plane itself to get her from the wheelchair to the seats? What if she needed the bathroom? its a long haul flight after all, and she was bound to have needed it. She needed specialist medical equipment and medical attendants in an air ambulance, not a commercial airline.

squod · 29-01-2013 01:25PM

suicide_circus wrote: »

Not the airlines fault. She couldnt get out of the wheelchair into the seat and they couldnt move her, they can hardly have been expexted to bring a fork lift into the cabin.

Think the woman had an agreement and made arrangements for herself with the airline. Don't think it was good enough for the airlines to try and fail. The issue should have been reported, escallated and a resolution (if possible) found.

Feel sorry for her husband and family. Treatment in the US was a matter of life and death.

seamus · 29-01-2013 01:27PM

I imagine many of the larger airports in the US actually now have specialist equipment for super fatties, that you won't get anywhere else in the world.

My suspicion is that the only outcome of this court case will be a refusal by airlines to carry hyperobese people on international flights. Or a refusal by airports to accomodate them.

squod wrote:

The issue should have been reported, escallated and a resolution (if possible) found.

By all accounts, all of the airlines involved were doing their utmost to find a resolution to the issue, but you can't leave a full plane on the tarmac indefinitely while you come up with a solution. It's just unfortunate that she died before a solution could be found. In reality she should have attended a hospital in Hungary when she knew that she wasn't getting out on schedule.

hollypink · 29-01-2013 01:32PM

squod wrote: »

The issue should have been reported, escallated and a resolution (if possible) found.

But how do you know that didn't happen and the reality was that there was no possible resolution? I don't see how this is the airline's fault. If she was too ill to get to her seat, what on earth could the airline have done?

On a side note, it's scary that according to the CDC

More than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese.

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

jester77 · 29-01-2013 01:38PM

I wonder if they intentionally meant to go to Hungary, or did the husband ask "Where shall we go on holidays?" and she replied "I'm hungry".

Capt'n Midnight · 29-01-2013 01:45PM

Gummy Panda wrote: »

No I meant in regards to herself, pressure changes and the prolonged periods in confined space. If the amputation is due to the obesity, then there is probably circulation issues as well.

It's probable that the amputation was due to diabetes which was due to obesity.
Unless she was a smoker because that's another leading cause of amputations.

Or it could have been an accident, but regardless it drastically reduced her mobility and were there a plane crash she'd have real problems evacuating the aircraft.

As for her using an air ambulance would she have had difficulties in getting on board a learjet ?

It would be interesting to see how much it cost / would have cost the airline for her delay in seating.

If she was seriously engaged in dieting or other weight loss program / lifestyle program even at that late stage then I've every sympathy for her.

SEPT 23 1989 · 29-01-2013 01:45PM

They could have done a Dam Busters on her and bounced her across the Atlantic

29-01-2013 02:47PM

CJC999 wrote: »

Stupid Americans, they like to blame everyone and everyone for their own failings. I can't see the case going very far to be honest. The couple had a holiday home oin Hungary and were obviously there quite a while, Hungary has medical facilities too and so she wasn't denied medical attention. Stupid fat Americans.

MaxSteele wrote: »

"Husband wants answers" ... eh because your wife was an unhealthy and morbidly obese mess ?

Stupid americans. No loss.

well done, every american is stupid/fat just like every Irish person is a terrorist and or an alcoholic

Wibbs · 29-01-2013 02:52PM

hollypink wrote: »

On a side note, it's scary that according to the CDC

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

According to a government study last year(IIRC) nearly 60% of Irish adults are overweight or obese(men growing more than women). You don't tend to get the mad extremes here compared to the US, but we're not that skinny ourselves. Read something in the Sunday Times at the weekend that we've gotten so used to this slow creep of the pounds, that we tend to underestimate people's weight, we think them slimmer than they actually are. Our skinny/average/fat yardsticks have changed.

E.S.T. · 29-01-2013 04:04PM

CJC999 wrote: »

Stupid Americans, they like to blame everyone and everyone for their own failings. I can't see the case going very far to be honest. The couple had a holiday home oin Hungary and were obviously there quite a while, Hungary has medical facilities too and so she wasn't denied medical attention. Stupid fat Americans.

MaxSteele wrote: »

"Husband wants answers" ... eh because your wife was an unhealthy and morbidly obese mess ?

Stupid americans. No loss.

Lapin wrote: »

The irony of her dying in Hungary.

jester77 wrote: »

I wonder if they intentionally meant to go to Hungary, or did the husband ask "Where shall we go on holidays?" and she replied "I'm hungry".

They were originally from Hungary

seamus wrote: »

I imagine many of the larger airports in the US actually now have specialist equipment for super fatties, that you won't get anywhere else in the world.

In Europe the equipment is called a ferry or train but obviously there is no obese people in Europe.......

29-01-2013 04:16PM

Neyite wrote: »

If she was ill, her travel insurance should have flown her home in an air ambulance. But, flying with circulatory ailments or other conditions can be dangerous too.

Would travel insurance have covered her? She had pre-existing conditions and I can't imagine any doctor would have told her travelling was without risk.

HTML5! · 29-01-2013 04:22PM

She weighted 193kg....even with one leg missing!! F*ck me!

I find it really difficult to sympathise/empathise with such a grotesque, self inflicted lifestyle.

It's ironic he's suing for gross negligence - exactly what he and his wife are also guilty of in my opinion.

hollypink · 29-01-2013 04:22PM

Wibbs wrote: »

According to a government study last year(IIRC) nearly 60% of Irish adults are overweight or obese(men growing more than women). You don't tend to get the mad extremes here compared to the US, but we're not that skinny ourselves. Read something in the Sunday Times at the weekend that we've gotten so used to this slow creep of the pounds, that we tend to underestimate people's weight, we think them slimmer than they actually are. Our skinny/average/fat yardsticks have changed.

ah yeah, it's no secret that we aren't that far behind the US in terms of the obesity crisis. But that 60% figure isn't that meaningful I think because there is a big difference between someone who is (for example) a few pounds overweight and someone who is obese. As far as I know, it's very difficult to turn things around once you're in the obese category, which I suppose is what happened to this woman.

seamus · 29-01-2013 04:29PM

E.S.T. wrote: »

In Europe the equipment is called a ferry or train but obviously there is no obese people in Europe.......

I'm not sure if that's a jab or just the lack of tone in the text medium, but while Europe is getting heavier (Ireland and the UK particularly badly as Wibbs mentions), we still don't have the same level of morbid to hyper obesity that's seen in the states.

This may be because in the US being obese is both enabled and accommodated for by service providers, but not so much over here - if you're too fat, go get the train. But most likely it's just a delay effect because the figures indicate that we're well on our way.

Though there does seem to be something of an anti-fat sentiment on the rise. Whereas refusing to accommodate a fat passenger may have led to bad PR in the past, nowadays taking a hardline on massively obese people is as likely to get you a slap on the back as it is to get you a smack in the face.

E.S.T. · 29-01-2013 04:51PM

seamus wrote: »

I'm not sure if that's a jab or just the lack of tone in the text medium, but while Europe is getting heavier (Ireland and the UK particularly badly as Wibbs mentions), we still don't have the same level of morbid to hyper obesity that's seen in the states.

This may be because in the US being obese is both enabled and accommodated for by service providers, but not so much over here - if you're too fat, go get the train. But most likely it's just a delay effect because the figures indicate that we're well on our way.

Though there does seem to be something of an anti-fat sentiment on the rise. Whereas refusing to accommodate a fat passenger may have led to bad PR in the past, nowadays taking a hardline on massively obese people is as likely to get you a slap on the back as it is to get you a smack in the face.

Ireland also doesn't have African Americans, Native Americans, Mexicans, Pacific Islanders, etc, all of who are extremely fat and either don't care or like to be big. What group is there in Ireland that sees obesity as a positive?

Bad Santa · 29-01-2013 04:56PM

HTML5! wrote: »

She weighted 193kg....even with one leg missing!! F*ck me!

I find it really difficult to sympathise/empathise with such a grotesque, self inflicted lifestyle.

It's ironic he's suing for gross negligence - exactly what he and his wife are also guilty of in my opinion.

You know little about these people. Certainly not enough to be making the remarks you are.

Some footage of them at the airport:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nWQxc8fTaU

Gone Drinking · 29-01-2013 05:00PM

I understand the woman was big for whatever reason.. but in fairness, she obviously knew and just because she's big doesn't mean she can't holiday.

They were obviously paying for extra seats to accommodate her. The airline got her there, they should have got her home.

They even drove to another country when they were told a plane there could take them. Most people probably would have told the airline to fcuk off at this point..

Sorry but I think they're right and right to sue. If the airline had said no to begin with but they got her there and couldn't get her home for various reasons (lack of equipment, time schedule stuff etc).

Very sad tbh

Lelantos · 29-01-2013 05:04PM

E.S.T. wrote: »

Ireland also doesn't have African Americans, Native Americans, Mexicans, Pacific Islanders, etc, all of who are extremely fat and either don't care or like to be big. What group is there in Ireland that sees obesity as a positive?

Americans. St Patricks Day & fat azzed yanks in green spandex...sweet jebus Nooo!

hatrickpatrick · 29-01-2013 05:05PM

Ah, the daily "F*ck fat people, let's all throw garbage at them" thread. Isn't it a bit early in the day for it? I usually don't see it until around maybe 6 or 7 (after dinner time, ironically enough) :rolleyes:

HTML5! · 29-01-2013 05:07PM

Bad Santa wrote: »

You know little about these people. Certainly not enough to be making the remarks you are.

Some footage of them at the airport:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nWQxc8fTaU

Yeah, I suppose they all get that fat from a thyroid condition.

Wibbs · 29-01-2013 05:18PM

E.S.T. wrote: »

Ireland also doesn't have African Americans, Native Americans, Mexicans, Pacific Islanders, etc, all of who are extremely fat and either don't care or like to be big. What group is there in Ireland that sees obesity as a positive?

Right so all "African Americans, Native Americans, Mexicans, Pacific Islanders(nd people from Etcetera land apparently)" are "extremely fat"? All of them and they all dig the fatties? You have to be either trolling or 12.

bizmark · 29-01-2013 05:23PM

Wibbs wrote: »

Right so all "African Americans, Native Americans, Mexicans, Pacific Islanders(nd people from Etcetera land apparently)" are "extremely fat"? All of them and they all dig the fatties? You have to be either trolling or 12.

Dont generalize the pc protected peoples kids back to throwing insults at the safe option of the fat dead women

E.S.T. · 29-01-2013 05:29PM

Wibbs wrote: »

Right so all "African Americans, Native Americans, Mexicans, Pacific Islanders(nd people from Etcetera land apparently)" are "extremely fat"? All of them and they all dig the fatties? You have to be either trolling or 12.

I meant all of that group has extremely high obesity rates and you know what I meant. You second point is exactly what I am saying outside of "all of them" and don't try to act like it some type of trolling.

What we need is a body-culture revolution in black America. Why? Because too many experts who are involved in the discussion of obesity don’t understand something crucial about black women and fat: many black women are fat because we want to be.

The black poet Lucille Clifton’s 1987 poem “Homage to My Hips” begins with the boast, “These hips are big hips.” She establishes big black hips as something a woman would want to have and a man would desire. She wasn’t the first or the only one to reflect this community knowledge. Twenty years before, in 1967, Joe Tex, a black Texan, dominated the radio airwaves across black America with a song he wrote and recorded, “Skinny Legs and All.” One of his lines haunts me to this day: “some man, somewhere who’ll take you baby, skinny legs and all.” For me, it still seems almost an impossibility.

Chemically, in its ability to promote disease, black fat may be the same as white fat. Culturally it is not.

How many white girls in the ’60s grew up praying for fat thighs? I know I did. I asked God to give me big thighs like my dancing teacher, Diane. There was no way I wanted to look like Twiggy, the white model whose boy-like build was the dream of white girls. Not with Joe Tex ringing in my ears.

NY Times

TheIrishGrover · 29-01-2013 05:36PM

Alright, suggest EST is ignored. Only thing for a troll.

Anyway, wouldn't she be a safety concern for other passengers? In the event of an evacuation surely she would be in the way? I'm assuming she could only have been put into the the seats in the emergency exit rows. I would be concerned if I saw her blocking an exit/exit row.

E.S.T. · 29-01-2013 05:38PM

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Alright, suggest EST is ignored. Only thing for a troll.

Anyway, wouldn't she be a safety concern for other passengers? In the event of an evacuation surely she would be in the way? I'm assuming she could only have been put into the the seats in the emergency exit rows. I would be concerned if I saw her blocking an exit/exit row.

Yea calling a dead woman "stupid" is appropriate but pointing out information that is backed up by statistics is trolling.

Widower sues airline for €5m over death of obese wife refused seat on three flights

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