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?

Presumably the OP shared this information all by herself!

Absolutely agree with this 👌

Fairly appropriate management.

It sounds like there may have been some difficulty in communication, particularly in the airport while waiting for the return flight after the hospital attendance (lots of attempts at phone calls) but otherwise seems fine, especially given that the insurance people weren't involved to help.

As I said earlier the attitude to cabin baggage in the US is quite different from the UK, or indeed most of Europe. We commented that a few cabin bags were almost the size of our checked luggage so depending on the contents it could also be very heavy.

OP what a nightmare, I'm sorry. And the 'oh really's on here don't help.

But my only advice is as per pp - please rest your eyes, stop posting. Avoid screens for several days. Listen to music instead - if not too loud, that's good for your brain. Get better soon!

Would you say that if all of this happened to you/to one of your loved ones the way it happened to OP?! Did you read her post? If that’s the way you think people should be treated, I disagree with you.

Op if you’re thinking straight to make this post you can quite easily contact your insurance company. Hope you feel better soon

@AmazonianWarrior as I asked you before, what should the airline have done differently.

I’m a healthcare professional. You were awake and talking, there was no need for them to do obs while you were still on the plane. It makes far more sense to get you off the plane and do them in a more appropriate location such as in the terminal where there is space to assess you properly and start any necessary treatment.

They could have applied a collar or used manual stabilisation if they were concerned about a significant neck injury and that would have been safer than trying to manoeuvre you from a sitting to a lying position in such a restricted space.

It looks like you were taken to a small emergency clinic adjacent to the airport rather than an actual hospital so that’s probably why you didn’t have a bill!

I would comply with authorities, this is most important, but also stay safe. .

Fix the locker?

Firstly, I’m sorry to hear about your experience, and I hope you are back to fighting fit very soon.
Secondly, don’t rush back to work until you are fully recovered.
Thirdly, inform your insurance company and claim for any expenses you have incurred, from medical bills to time off work.
Finally, take the airline to court and take them for every penny you can. That’s appalling treatment.

Get off your phone, OP.
With the symptoms you are describing about the worst thing you can do is spend hours focused on a screen.
Save your brain/ concentration time for dealing with insurance companies etc.
Rest, get some light exercise, drink lots of water and recover.

And again, GET OFF YOUR PHONE if you want your concussion symptoms to improve.

I'm not sure what people are expecting OP to sue for. Unless the luggage bin was defective and fell open as a result, it's not their fault and likely the fault of a passenger not packing it properly.

Given that the captain had to get involved I'm assuming there was a bit more said between OP and the crew than has been revealed.

At the end of the day, she had a head injury of some degree and needed to get to a hospital as quickly as possible, and the flight needed to leave.

American airlines (especially the budget ones) are notorious awful for service, so I've no doubt that the crew probably didn't give her any special attention.

Complain, sure. But sue? I think it's a bit ridiculous with the info we've got, but they do love a frivolous lawsuit over there so why not!

I have, and was taken straight off the plane. I was unconscious. If they need to get a line into you, or do anything with your heart, there's no room in the aisle on a plane.

If you were cognizant enough to ask for obs and what not (and I'm assuming arguing your case when they refused), I expect they felt you were safe enough to move.

Unless you were in need of immediate medical intervention, there's no reason for you to stay on the plane and hold everyone up. They get massive fines for leaving late and there's a huge knock on effect. The only danger you're in is falling if your legs have gone, but it's incredibly obvious to anyone watching if that's the case and they're unlikely to have let you hit the deck.

Hope you feel better soon and I know this sounds daft/obvious, but try not to bang your head again. The real danger from concussions comes when you get a secondary one, so bubble wrap your noggin for a few days! X

Op I have been on your other threads

You had to have a social worker present at your therapy sessions, so I can’t believe they were on board with you taking your two teens (both of whom have many issues and difficulties themselves) to the US.

Concussion is major. See how it impacts you. Complain about the service now to the airline (write directly to ceo via findceoemail.com or whatever site is) then in a month once you can summarise how you feel healthwise and see there was an impact, then sue. Just be warned, suing is stressful. And takes ages. Years. But when something terrible has happened, the money at the end can really help cope with that.

@Ratafiawas the locker broken?
The plane hadn’t even taken off so I’d imagine the lockers were still open whilst passengers put their luggage up.
If the op has now said the locker was broken that makes it different but there was no mention of it being broken on her original post

Nothing in the OPs account hints that this was due to a broken locker.

The accident happened during boarding and may well have been down to a fumble by another passenger.

Doesn’t matter I don’t think it is a fairly strict liability for the airline in that in just needs to be an accident - I.e. not a fraudulent claim and or cause my a passengers fear of flying

which is exactly how it should be - none of the OPs other posts matter, none of the background matters if she got injured by hand luggage on a plane accidentally the airline are liable.

as ling as the accident itself is documented and the resulting injuries it is fine

now the accident happened doesn’t matter here at all injuries like this are probably fairly common!

You may well be right about the legal side.

I was just commenting on the comment about fixing the locker..there's never been any evidence offered that it was broken.

Yeah as long as she didn’t cause it herself it really doesn’t matter all that needs to be proved it that it was an accident

which by the way is right the airlines should be responsible

I'll be honest, I would be interested to hear an impartial witnesses account of the whole incident. It would be very strange for the captain to come out of the cockpit and threaten a passenger with the police. They just don't get involved with cabin issues as that is the purser's job. Maybe if it was a small internal flight with not many crew. But a British Airways transatlantic flight? Not a chance unless there was a huge passenger-initiated incident and even then, probably not, as the purser would call the police if required.

@TwinklyWrinkly

You're right that this is mainly cabin crew territory but on the ground in these sort of circumstances it sometimes helps if someone with the rank slides and maybe the hat is around to be seen as backing up the cabin crew.

Flights out of Orlando and Miami with BA usually have a relief pilot so it wouldn't be that unusual for the captain to despatch that pilot back to the cabin in the first instance to have a look at what was going on/provide a bit of extra top cover for the cabin team.

Agree with you that an independent eyewitness account would be interesting.