AIBU to be annoyed with the parents on RyanAir flight today

[catgirl1976]

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

Maybe the parents were concerned about how it looks? So concerned about SS or similar, but obviously weren't going to articulate it so it came across as dithering?

I’m guessing that she asked the parents which hospital they wanted to take him to. We were flying into Manchester so I’m assuming they would have gone for Wythenshawe as that would be nearest and has an a and e. Concerned woman hovered about them for most of the flight and sort of took charge.

That is the problem with flying with Ryanair. If you had been on a BA flight, the Captain would, quote rightly, have told the parents that they could not board and would have to take their injured child to hospital. Unfortunately, Ryanair are all about low cost and the unfortunate pilot was not senior enough in the whole scope of Ryanair to stop the couple from boarding without worrying about his own position. As for Beaver's comments about pressurised cabins, the pressure inside the cabin changes at different altitudes which would affect the poor child's pain and which even a Ryanair pilot would know. Shame on the parents but even more shame on the pilot for not taking the decision out of their hands. I hasten to add that I have occasionally flown with Ryanair but it is not a pleasant experience.

I think I would have wanted to get home too tbh and get it seen to here. Magic calpol and a flight home. But if my child was really really crying, or the arm looked visibly injured or twisted, I would have got off. Maybe they thought it was just sprained. I hope he's ok.

The mother inflicted the injuries so she was probably more worried about herself.

The other woman probably never saw them
again. Poor kid

If it was caused by the Mum I would guess it was a dislocated elbow and not a break. It sounds odd that the medical folk thought it broken. It could have been broken but doesn’t sound as likely. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’d have been tempted to stay on the plane too.

Child arrives on the plane roaring with a sore arm.
Cabin crew investigate and hear child’s arm was pulled by mother.
Pilot already delayed got a waiver signed and got out of there.

Parents 100% at fault
Not pilot ( even a lowly Ryanair pilot)

Caca.. what I said has nothing to do with a pilot giving parenting advice. A pilot has a duty to ensure that all passengers arrive safely at their destination. If this poor child was seriously injured, he might have needed medical attention in flight which would not have been there. In the worst case scenario he could have died. The pilot is not a doctor and could not assess the risk, so his duty as a pilot is to ensure that the child did not board and got medical attention on the ground. Any senior pilot would have taken that decision.

If the child was at a serious risk of dying I am sure action would have been taken to stop the child flying. The real issue seems to be that flying could have caused more pain to the child. That is not great for the child, but it is not a life and death scenario.

I have been on a commercial flight in Australia with a woman who shattered her ankle and the drs at the regional hospital recommended she fly home to her private hospital for the operation as they had better surgeons. To be fair she had massive amounts of painkillers before getting on the plane.

I have to say in this situation I would just get the flight back and deal with it in the UK. Once on the flight I'd be loathe to disembark, find a hospital, language barrier, have the wait there, the unknown cost (even if insurance covers it), then having to rebook the flight where airlines are often far from helpful, finding accommodation, it is all a nightmare. Fair enough if child had suspected sepsis or something where two hours would make all the difference but a broken arm is not life threatening.

After reading this I am going to start taking some sachets of Calpol and Nurofen on flights though.

Pulled elbows relatively easy to put back..hypermobile kids and I learned the manoeuvre. But yeh they could have got off got it seen.