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?

Have you found yourself being more tetchy in the aftermath?

You mention that you have a support worker OP @UndertheCedartree

Presumably you have told them about what happened?

What are their thoughts as to what you should do?

Quite. I've had two serious concussions and two not quite as serious, and they were all horrible.

The first one was so horrid that it gave me post concussion syndrome and a mental breakdown 😭

Drop the fixation on the obs. They took to her to hospital as the obs couldn't be done on the plane. She needs to focus on claiming back any expenses through the insurance company and focus on getting well. Shes admitted that she didn't know what was going on due to the head injury. Obsessing about what immediate response the paramedics gave isn't going to help either of those things is it?

Yep.
The observations would either say something was wrong, and you needed to get off the plane. Or everything was fine, and you can get off the plane. It would have made no difference to the outcome whatsoever. The firefighters wanted to do them at the scene because that’s their usual protocol, not because if would have dictated what they do next.

If you’re looking to sue shouldn’t it be the person who owned and put the suitcase in the overhead bin that gets sued, as they caused the issue not the airline.

Yes, he did initially. Once I was feeling a bit better I followed up.

More pleasant for everyone. For my children, for me, for the medical professionals and for the cabin staff. The medical professionals would have kept things calm and got things sorted efficiently. Better for the 300 people too. None who witnessed it as the curtains were closed. Not sure why you want to argue this point. You don't think medical professionals should be listened to. I do. We can ageee to disagree.

Yes. To get things set up with my insurance in case a bill comes through which I have done. And then make a claim with BA for my expenses.

I'm sorry to hear that. Concussion is really horrible.

I take it you aren't a medical professional. That's not really how it works. But anyway, I'm not going to keep arguing this. We can agree to disagree.

No, because the airline are legally responsible.

Nope the airline have a strict liability here and our completely responsible

Was your support worker on board with you taking your two ND children on a long haul holiday alone? @UndertheCedartree

I imagine that all this has very much fizzled out, and hopefully the OP @UndertheCedartree is back under the care of her support workers