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?

This is all a bit strange OP, no doubt you have been treated very poorly by the airline but I find it strange that you ‘couldn’t speak properly’ in the hospital in the US but were also cleared to fly. Absolutely no way will an America hospital treat you for free so your details for billing must have been handed over at some point!

You absolutely need to contact your travel insurance - a bill is likely going to be produced at some point plus if you do want to take legal action they will need to know. I’ve got to say it’s a little strange that you either can’t or won’t contact them yet you have the capability to post on here.

This is a lesson to us all maybe to pass our travel insurance details to a relative if travelling with children alone so someone else can help!

Never said I saw the video I just saw a post that basically said the same as the OP in an Orlando facebook group I belong to - was just scrolling through never clicked on it but it is on other media.

and a metal water bottle would certainly do it - ours filled with water are very heavy!

On the bigger planes that do long haul, the overhead bins frequently open directly above a seat.

Major design flaw. Perhaps Boeing will end up paying out!

Sue, and complain about the Captain’s attitude.

I was once treated in A&E in the States and was also not charged. I gave my details but a bill didn’t follow.

OP, how did you manage to get an ESTA to fly into the States when you have a recent criminal record for theft?
Have you been able to dial the number to call your insurers yet or are you fingers too tired from typing your updates on MN instead?

Same. I think we did receive a bill once we returned back to the UK, but it was weeks/months later.

It is the safest option in an open area where a stretcher can be maneuvered without bumps or other than horizontal but not the safest option to get someone out of a confined space- getting off an aeroplane usually falls in the confined space category,

My health should have come first not getting us off the plane as soon as possible.

In addition, getting you off the plane quickly and to a hospital was imho the best action for your health and safety.

With respect OP, you are exhibiting symptoms of a mild TBI and so you will not be thinking clearly. Your partner needs to step up and start taking care of you and the insurance paperwork.

Also, be aware you are at higher risk of developing depression as a direct result of the head injury. So flag up any intrusive negative thoughts that emerge to your GP.,

This OP was travelling on a very very tight budget

the OP has extensive and ongoing social worker involvement for both herself and her children.

I mention this because clearly this information feeds in to this thread

After being treated like that I would have no qualms at all about suing them

So OP is both poor and vulnerable, meaning it highly unlikely that she would have the resources to sue.

@SugarandSpiceandAllThingsNaice

It is the safest option in an open area where a stretcher can be maneuvered without bumps or other than horizontal but not the safest option to get someone out of a confined space- getting off an aeroplane usually falls in the confined space category,

Interesting point - Over the years working on aircraft I don't I ever saw anyone with a medical problem carried off on a stretcher, the crew/helpers were more likely to use the aircraft wheelchair to get to the door, then transfer to another chair.

Even in a widebodied aircraft (.e.g. A380/777/787) I think it would be tough to almost impossible to get anyone on a traditional stretcher around the cabin furniture and out of the forward doors usually used for boarding and disembarkation.

I don't know if you have flown in America but their idea of cabin baggage is a joke, we once watched a man swinging on the edge of the overhead locker to be able to get his huge bag in there. Another flight back to Europe a woman had such an enormous 'cabin bag' that even the cabin crew said she couldn't put in the the overhead and she argued with them that she intended to tour Yurp with just hand luggage. A few of us chuckled, the words Ryanair on our lips.

I understand, but I think they should be your 'go to' in preference to MN 'experts'.

By virtue of this being an American flight, happening in the US, you sue. And it seems to be much more serious than you think. I vote sue.

Virgin Atlantic has an allowance of 12kg and that would hurt if it hit you! I was hit in the face by a 5kg medicine ball and that was bad enough.

If and when you have the energy: sue them. (When in Rome, do as the Roman’s do!) Really sorry you had to go through all that. How awful. I hope you’ll feel better soon!

I don't understand why people are surprised that she didn't have to pay anything at the hospital. You don't pay anything up front at the hospital in the US for treatment. You tell them you have insurance, or you tell them you're self-pay and then they send you a bill later. They don't lock you up until you pay. They treat you and then you leave.

They handled this badly. I’d be mad at that and if you can sue, why not?

It’s likely that a standard stretcher would not have fitted along an aircraft aisle.
Be prepared for a bill from the ambulance too - ours took 6 months to arrive

The reason Americans sue is because they also resist government regulation or interference as a point of principle. Rather than companies having to adhere to enforceable standards, as they would in EU, for instance, lawsuits brought by individuals are the mechanism for keeping big business in check.

This is the reason why amounts awarded seem stupidly high - it’s the court’s way of sending a strong message to industry. In reality, people don’t actually see anything close to those sorts of sums as it gets caught up in appeals, massively inflated insurance claims etc.

And then in turn, business uses the media to paint litigants in a negative light, to discourage lawsuits. The elderly woman who sued McDonalds for the medical costs of being scalded by coffee so hot it caused 3rd degree burns in seconds, after 700 similar incidents, is a case in point. She’s remembered for a frivolous lawsuit because they made her look ridiculous in the media.

In a society that doesn’t have in built consumer protections, suing can be akin to civic responsibility as it’s the way you prevent this happening to another person. Not because you’re a chancer but because that’s how the system works.

In your shoes I’d let the insurance company deal. But if you decide to sue, don’t feel you’re wrong to do so.

But the OP says she wasn’t asked any details, didn’t pass on her insurance details etc and couldn’t even speak coherently so how will they send on the bill?

I think most people are questioning this rather than suggesting that she would have to hand over cash there and then.

Yeah standard stretchers won't fit. The aisle is very limited on space. I had to look into it recently as a member of my family had to fly back with a broken leg and couldn't walk.
The paramedics did the right thing guided by the pilot and the airlines medical advice. The crew dont make any medical decisions they have to ring through to a company who make the final decision.

I'm not sure what to think of all this but there is a limit to how long a plane load of passengers should be made to wait whilst someone is seen to for a medical emergency which may lead to hospitalisation. As soon as a passenger has a head injury the airline is going to risk assess that as 'unfit to fly', especially on long haul as the alternative outcome mid Atlantic is much worse.

It sounds like the airline (BA ?!) took an uncaring attitude towards you but it sounds like it was quite a hoo-ha what with crying teenagers and a 'stunned' OP. They could have been nicer but you can't expect endless empathy from a few hundred people wanting to get home. Who's to say how long all that might take?

Contact the airline.