WWYD? Concussion after suitcase fell on my head!

[UndertheCedartree]

Just a thread to get opinions on this and decide what to do.

I was boarding my flight home from Florida on Thursday evening and was just sitting down when a suitcase landed on my head having fallen from the overhead locker. Honestly, the whole experience has been horrible and I feel I've been really badly treated. Being in the US all the Americans keep telling me to sue!

I don't necessarily want to do that but I would like to stop someone experiencing the same. Or I just forget about it and move on. Just interested to hear opinions.

So after it happened they called firefighters (who are paramedics too) to attend. When waiting for this I noticed they had moved my hand luggage off the plane and got my teenage children out of their seats who were both standing there crying. The firefighters came and the airline crew were telling me I have to go to hospital. I asked for some observations to be done and a stretcher brought. They insisted I had to get off the plane. The pilot came out, no empathy atall, just told me to get off the plane or he would call the police! I went with the firefighters and they told me they would have preferred to do observations before moving me but have to do what the airline says.

Anyway they took me to hospital and they said I was ok to fly home the next day. I tried to get in touch with someone to ask for some accommodations to make the flight more bearable as I was in so much pain. I was told I have to speak to 'the airport team' - we arrived at the airport at 11am and there was noone from the airline there. Eventually they came at 1pm but told me they just work on their behalf they can do nothing I need to speak to the airline on the phone/online. Tried numbers, messaging for hours. Eventually I was told they would make sure I was comfortable on the flight with pillows etc. We got on the flight having been up for a day and a half and so uncomfortable from.just sitting on airport seating, I thought I was finally going to be comfortable. When I got on board I asked for a pillow. You would have thought I'd asked for the crown jewels! I was shouted at, told there was only one pillow person customer (not actually a pillow just a small thin cushion) It was a horrible, painful flight and I felt so bad and was so dizzy when I got off the flight I am now in A&E.

They think it is a concussion but I failed one of the neurological observations so I'm waiting for a CT scan. I honestly think they could have taken more care and been much nicer. Wwyd?

Yes, that's absolutely correct. (The gold bars was a joke. 😉 )

I was in an accident in the States several years ago and I regret not suing to this day.

Who should she sue? Why would an airline be responsible for a passenger's actions?

The thing is, however, that an individual can't just "sue" a big corporation - either they need a big budget to engage representation or their travel insurer has to do it for them. I'm not over-convinced the OP has travel insurance...

Such lawsuits can go on for many years, too.

@DressOrSkirt

There are many reasons people want their flights to leave on time, including their health, medications, appointments, ability to be seated for so long etc.

Agreed, It's all very well people claiming they'd be generous with their own time, but on many BA Longhaul flights onto London you'll can quite possibly be looking at 100, plus/minus connecting passengers. Their plans might be totally screwed by an extended departure delay.

As for the hints at nasty pilots by some posters...frankly if you end up with the senior management onboard having to get involved in the cabin and talking to local agencies (e.g. paramedics) it's probably a sign that the situation was deteriorating and needed gripping.

Sometimes (slots, crew duty.limits, etc etc).
someone has to step in and do some straight talking...

I agree with this - do any of you actually believe that despite a passenger being treated by paramedics for a potentially serious head injury that a pilot who must be at least reasonably experienced to be captaining a transatlantic flight is going to come out of his cabin and threaten that passenger with the police?

There is more to this situation - something else has to have been happening for a pilot to consider getting the police involved.

I would suggest the crew and pilot were trying to ensure the plane could leave on time. Op, in your dazed state perhaps you were not behaving as rationally as you might normally. Getting you medical attention was the most appropriate action and there would be evacuation protocols to follow. Assume you have paid for the family to stay overnight until you could board the next flight, which presumably BA arranged at no additional cost. Unless the hospital notes stated you needed to be accommodated reclined then whatever the crew provided was adequate and availability of additional space may have depended on how full the plane was. If you had contacted your insurer they would have made such arrangements and covered any costs for you. Hopefully you are now reviewed, scanned and discharged, although you may be advised to have someone stay with you for a day or two. Not sure you would get far suing BA but by all means complain.

I don't know why people are being so mean to you. You have a concussion and people here are making fun of you for your posts being difficult to understand. You suffered a head injury and people are criticizing you for being unable to stand up for your rights when you were suffering a medical event caused by that injury.

Hospitals in the USA are required to stabilize patients who present to the emergency department, regardless of ability to pay. However you may receive a bill later.

All she needs to do is contact her insurer.

If she has contacted her insurer, they would have arranged appropriate travel home and undertaken the case with the airline. I can't understand why someone didn't contact the insurance company immediately. It's what you pay travel insurance for.

Unless there is no insurer.

And there won’t be

not with this op

Contact a decent firm of personal injury solicitors asap. They will start with notifying the airline of the claim, get you seen by a consultant and as part of the claim can also arrange for any specialist treatment/physio you may need.

The airline would not have allowed the OP to board a flight less than a day after such a serious incident that it required hospitalisation without a letter from the hospital clearing her fit to fly. Especially following a serious head injury!

Oh yes, of course, good spot...of course that only works if the passenger fesses up to being recently injured/hospitalised...

BA even have a special form, available on line via ba.com..

What neurological observation did you fail?

🙄

Exactly, yet the OP says she was incoherent in the hospital. This is why none of this makes sense to me.

I’m not saying it didn’t happen but there is clearly more to it than the OP has posted about.

I wondered that too. Most teens would be able to make such a call or ask another adult to do so if op was incapacitated. Op, maybe you need to go through this process with them if you plan to travel together again.

Who paid for the fit to fly letter? I’d be surprised if there was no charge for this?

Yes, sue! Airlines have insurance for this reason. My husband worked in law and for BA.

The OP has already said the children have a disability. Presumably if they could have contacted the insurers, they would have.

My children would not be able to consult with insurers in this situation. It would need to wait for me..

It's hard to conceive of how a suitcase fell out onto you. Did another passenger mess up?

Sounds like the airline staff lacked compassion, wtf.

Def sue. Use a lawyer in USA and go through a USA court.

No idea what airline you used, but they were clearly awful!

That's checked in luggage. No one accepts 23kg hand luggage. @UndertheCedartree that's sounds awful. Please sue them and get as much money as you possibly can.

Hopefully I got away with it then! I just spoke to my DS he said it was paid for by the airport. He said it was an 'airport hospital' It did have airport in it's name!