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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to be annoyed with the parents on RyanAir flight today

115 replies

catgirl1976 · 11/08/2019 15:22

Flew home from holiday today.

A family got on with a small child screaming. Not a problem - small children do this and I was initially full of sympathy for the parents as we’ve all been there.

Small child (not a baby but not quite a toddler) continues to howl (really, really badly)and just as we are about to get ready to take off a call comes out asking if there is a doctor or nurse on board. Couple of people come forward and it’s clear there’s an issue with the child.

Further transpired it’s fallen on the shuttle bus and really hurt it’s arm. A retired nurse, a midwife and a third year medical student all look and feel it could be broken. All advise the parents should leave the plane as the pressure could make it more painful, risk of blood clots and any turbulence could result in child being further injured. Parents dither. Child is screaming and clearly distressed.

Cabin crew then say the Captain advises they leave the flight and get the child checked as there are no medical staff on board and also mention the air pressure making things worse etc. Parents dither. Parents are advised there is a later flight today to the destination and as it is a medical issue they can get that one instead for no extra cost. Further dithering.

Paramedics are then called and advise all the same things. Parents dither further. Then (after delaying flight for everyone) decide to stay in flight against all advise and sign a disclaimer.

AIBU to think if five medical people and an airline pilot have advised you leave a flight and get your child checked out and there is a possibility of a broken bone and further damage or pin being caused by air pressure and turbulence you don’t stay on the plane whilst your child screams in agony, delay a flight and then decide you’ll just chance it and see how they are?

Rant over....but the poor thing sounded in agony and clearly needed to be checked properly IMO

OP posts:
BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 11/08/2019 15:23

Oh that's awful! I wonder if they didn't have travel insurance.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 11/08/2019 15:25

How long was the flight? If only say 2/3 hours, it could take longer than that to sort luggage off plane locate and travel to a doctor.

Did the paramedicals administer any pain relief?

Original poster
catgirl1976 · 11/08/2019 15:25

I did wonder if it was a potential costs issue and they were worried they couldn’t afford any doctors bills. But it sounded awful the poor thing 😩

OP posts:
lyralalala · 11/08/2019 15:26

I think it’s ridiculous that if there was a strong belief a child had a broken arm that the pilot allowed them to make the choice.

lyralalala · 11/08/2019 15:26

And surprised they took the risk of diverting if anything went wrong mid flight.

CrotchetyQuaver · 11/08/2019 15:28

How long was the flight back home? I honestly don't know what I'd do in the same situation, but I suspect if my baby was that upset, I'd probably have got off the plane to take it to hospital and caught a later flight back, maybe leaving the other parent on board so that the luggage could stay on if that was an option

Confrontayshunme · 11/08/2019 15:29

ÑBU at all but I had a friend who broke her foot skiing the day of her flight and flew the 1.5 hrs back to London on a pair of crutches because repatriation is REALLY expensive and insutance don't often pay for it. Two hour risk of blood clots or almost certainty of huge bill and hotel costs in foreign country and she decided against it. That said, a break on a baby is totally different.

Original poster
catgirl1976 · 11/08/2019 15:30

It was a two hour flight so I get that but all the medical people seemed worried about cabin pressure or further injury if there was turbulence as it was a babe in arms rather than having it’s own seat so could have got bumped about (luckily it didn’t as it was a smooth flight)

They were just so ditherery as well like “oh what should we do?” . “Ooh yes maybe we should. Ooh I don’t know.” . “Erm we don’t know what to do”.

Also they didn’t seem that concerned just really really vague about things

OP posts:
Redtartanshoes · 11/08/2019 15:30

Friend recently had to take her daughter to hospital in Cyprus with suspected appendicitis (wasn’t). Ambulance, scan and painkillers came to £600. A lot of people haven’t got access to that sort of money.

Not saying it’s right, and I can’t inagjne as a parent jeorpordising your child’s health and such like but you can see why they’d want to get home:

purplecorkheart · 11/08/2019 15:30

I am surprised that the pilot did not get them offloaded. I was once in an airport where a lady felt dizzy at the boarding gate due to excess heat and not eating. She was not allowed board due to risk of diversion.

Original poster
catgirl1976 · 11/08/2019 15:31

Yes DH was very surprised the pilot didn’t just tell them to get off

OP posts:
soveryconfused1 · 11/08/2019 15:31

The captain should have been firmer about making a decision. Their job is to ensure the safety of passengers and crew. A disclaimer would be strongly contested in a court of law if anything happened to the child as a result of an ill informed decision to fly regardless of a disclaimer.

Lockheart · 11/08/2019 15:32

YANBU at all. I'm surprised the pilot didn't insist they disembark, as flying with a potentially untreated broken arm could lead to much more severe problems.

Original poster
catgirl1976 · 11/08/2019 15:32

I think after about an hour of hearing the child howling in obvious pain the whole flight would have chipped in for any medical bills.

I did think the only reason must have been concerns about money. :(

OP posts:
TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross · 11/08/2019 15:33

Ambulance, scan and painkillers came to £600.

Which can presumably be claimed back from travel insurance?

Longdistance · 11/08/2019 15:34

The captain can refuse to take them and have them chucked off. What were they thinking? It would have been a lot quicker do off load them.

InTheHeatofLisbon · 11/08/2019 15:34

I'm not minted, but if I suspected (or was told by medics) that my child needed to be seen by doctors and was clearly in agony, I'd be prepared to lose a fucking holiday rather than let my child suffer!

Fuck is wrong with some people!

Agreed the pilot should have refused to let them fly. Someone should really have involved SS if the child was clearly in agony and the parents were prioritising a holiday.

Poor bairn.

Lockheart · 11/08/2019 15:35

This is why travel insurance should not be considered an optional extra when travelling. It should be built into your budget from the outset, same as your flights and hotel

It is not expensive. I often travel to Europe for a week with insurance that costs £10 or so.

If you can afford to travel overseas, you can afford the comparatively tiny cost of insurance.
If you c

InTheHeatofLisbon · 11/08/2019 15:35

Sorry just realised you were flying back so losing a holiday wasn't relevant.

I'd get my child seen rather than piss about, every time. Shameful neglect.

InTheHeatofLisbon · 11/08/2019 15:37

If you can afford to travel overseas, you can afford the comparatively tiny cost of insurance.

This. If you can't afford insurance, you can't afford the holiday.

My mum's last holiday, she was charged an exorbitant amount because she had cancer. £6k for the week. Well bloody worth it as she did in fact get an infection and needed brought home. (They only paid £6k as they knew it would be her last holiday)

NavyBlueHue · 11/08/2019 15:37

I suppose they could have been worried that if the child did have a broken bone and had to be cast, they might not be able to fly home on a later flight. For a 2 hour flight I can understand why they’d consider options as it may have stranded them there.

Agree they sound dithery but I think for 2 hours it might be a choice I’d have made. Especially if I knew I could get UK medical treatment faster and closer to home (factoring in bad removal etc).

I8toys · 11/08/2019 15:37

Poor baby. They should definitely have got off and seen to the child as the first priority.

Wellmet · 11/08/2019 15:39

If they were flying home, I have more sympathy with their decision tbh. Much easier to cope for a couple of hours and then be able to visit a hospital in your own country. Horrible for the child though, were the paramedics able to give any pain relief?

Bouledeneige · 11/08/2019 15:40

Yes it does sound horrible. But I can quite see the parents might be thinking they'd rather just get back to the UK and go straight to hospital on return on a 'better the devil you know' basis. Not just because the NHS is free but because you might have greater faith in its quality - and being close to home afterwards. So whilst I'm not making excuses I can see why they might have just prefered to be getting them cared for at home.

VivaLeBeaver · 11/08/2019 15:40

Turbulence aside I can't see how flying would make it worse. The cabin is pressurised so the air pressure change thing is bollocks and a 2 hour flight is not going to increase blood clot.

Yes not being treated and no pain killers would make it very uncomfortable 2 hours for the child. Though to be fair you could wait that long or longer in an a&e waiting room. Saying that triage would normally give calpol while waiting, and I would guess with liquid restriction nobody had calpol.

As well as it being about money parents could just be worried about logistics of being in a strange country and not speaking the language, etc. Where is the hospital, how do they get there? How long will it take? What if they're not done for the later flight and miss that? Will the airline let them fly the next day? Where will they stay tonight? Can they afford a hotel/food, maybe insurance won't cover that, maybe they don't have insurance, maybe they forgot their ehic card.

They'd have been better off not dithering, getting some calpol down the kid, putting the arm in a sling and getting back to the U.K. ASAP.

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