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 does not need to be declared on a Visa.

OP I saw the post on FB and I think BA should have at least offered you upgraded seats on the way home so that you could have been comfortable. Deal with your health first and then worry about suing etc.

This has been posted a couple of times on Facebook. Have those posts been removed? Essentially the same response- why haven’t you phoned your insurer rather than posting on social media.

Yes it was obvious she wanted an upgrade to be more comfortable which is why it’s confusing or even worse worrying that she’s gone from being coherent enough to post all over FB and write a clear OP to being confused and unable to communicate properly as the thread develops.

This is all very odd.

If as the OP says she is not out of pocket - her flights were rearranged at no cost, she was not charged for her hospital stay - what is the point of contacting her insurer? They won't care as there is no financial loss. Assuming that is that she bothered to get insurance...

And started a thread a few months ago about visiting America on an absolute shoe string budget

The crew dont make any medical decisions they have to ring through to a company who make the final decision.

Sort of, but in flight the flight crew wouldn't be expected to comply with medical opinion if it conflicted with flight safety (and TBH the on the ground medics that work in this field know that and so usually only offer up recommendations, they don't make the decision).

That said certainly in circumstances described by the OP (States, on the ground, doors open,) the captain isn't in a position or have the authority to tell/order the local paramedics to make a passenger with an injury walk off...if the paramedics really thought a stretcher was absolutely essential for the OP's health they could have insisted on it...

Ab ambulance in the States costs at least $8/900

OP, I think I remember from your other posts ther you have some mental health issues. Were you mentally well when you got on the plane? Did you have travel insurance which covered you for those pre-existing conditions?

Did the US hospital know that you left the building or did you just leave at 1am like your Lyft screenshot suggests, without them knowing?

are you worried about being able to pay the hospital bill if your insurance didn’t cover it?

I think there is possibly a more nuanced situation than it appears.

This op won’t have insurance

Sue. You should be compensated for the awful treatment and injury. Also, they may improve or at least learn an expensive lesson so when it happens again the next person may be treated a bit better. Sorry you and your kids had to go through this.

*you're teenagers

A conviction for theft (and other criminal convictions) DOES have to be declared when applying for an ESTA:

• The Question:The ESTA application includes a mandatory question about arrests and convictions for certain crimes, such as those involving theft or serious harm.

Why is it you're and not your? God this thread is confusing me on so many levels

It's not

The one thing that isn’t I don’t think odd is the idea that hand luggage wouldn’t be heavy enough! Add in books/metal water bottle into a hard pull along case it certainly could hurt

DD once got concussion from a bucket being shot on her head in soft play at a theme park and wasn’t great with it at all so it can be quite bad hit on the top of the head

oh dear

Happened to my ex MIL. She sued and got a massive payout. Do it. And I hope you feel better soon! X

you're teenagers

Eh? This would mean "you are teenagers". Your teenagers means the teenagers belonging to you. Mischievous or misreading?

Oh dear.

If you’re going to correct someone, at least get it right!

I suspect so. Everything is done electronically these days and it’s highly unlikely she only has a paper copy of travel insurance which just happens to be in a suitcase she doesn’t have with no email copy on her phone.

I would imagine the PP was trying to suggest that they are all teenagers, including the OP, implying a certain immaturity in the OP's responses.

Or the PP just got it wrong! 😅

Let’s be honest, if you can arrange a Lyft to get yourself from the hospital to a hotel, from the hotel to an airport, get through a UK airport, from the airport to a UK hospital and to post several times on Facebook groups as well as mumsnet - you can either access your digital travel insurance or ask someone else to get the details from the suitcase where the OP claims they are.

The OP is acting like it’s new information to her that she may need travel insurance in this case yet there is no way a US hospital didn’t ask a UK national if they have insurance and several people have advised her to do so via the Facebook posts and on here!

I doubt that was the intention. They were clearly trying to correct the poster and in doing so made themselves look ridiculous.

I suspect as a PP has commented that there is in fact no insurance or indeed perhaps no head injury at all.

I am in the US (though not in Florida, fortunately). The crew sound as though they were not very understanding or empathetic. It seems to me the paramedics acted appropriately. I can't imagine which observations they could have done on the plane that would have changed the outcome (i.e., going to the hospital). You clearly needed to be checked out in a hospital.

As for payment, US hospitals generally collect information about health insurance at some point during the admissions process. If you don't have insurance, they will take down that information. They don't demand payment at the door, but you can expect to receive a bill.