Husband Of Obese Woman Blames Airlines For Her Death

Thanks for that great post Todash!

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Originally Posted by Todash

I see what you are saying, although I don't know what medical treatment they had available to them. Surely they would have sought it? I read some more about this, and several sites say she "gained weight due to her disease," presumably in the last three weeks. To me, that sounds like maybe her kidney failure worsened, causing her to begin retaining a lot of fluid (people can live with even advanced kidney failure for years but you have to keep that water weight off--which I know you know, but in case anyone reading this isn't familiar with kidney failure, I'm mentioning it). My guess is that she had so much fluid that it began overwhelming her organ systems; that is how people die when their kidneys cease to properly function. Sometimes it happens really fast. My mom has kidney failure; she weighs herself every single day so that she can be on top of any excess fluid retention. But when she was in rehab after a fall last year, they screwed up her diuretics and nearly killed her in a very short time.

These people were traveling to and from a vacation home they owned in their native country. They'd probably made the trip dozens of times with no incidents, and that made them complacent. I do believe that after she was ejected from the first flight the airline tried to accommodate her. I just think they made a mistake by ejecting her from the first one. She was already on the plane. Perhaps she was still mobile? Sounds like it. But by the time they got done with all the airline waiting, it sounds like she was no longer mobile.

I definitely agree with you, after reading all that (and reading INTO it), that she should have been in a hospital at that point, not trying to board another plane. I wish a nurse or doctor had been around to assess the situation and tell her husband, "Sir, we need to get your wife help NOW. This is emergent." Just tragic all around. :sad:

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...fluid gain due to needing dialysis I imagine...and that type of facility should have been available to them...

A couple of articles said they did not trust the medical care offered in Hungary (where they were stranded) and were particularly concerned due to her complicated and lengthy history. She was apparently treated only in the US and had had no previous care abroad. I don't think the airlines actually did anything wrong, it was just a very unfortunate and difficult situation for all parties. I do wonder about the last attempt with Lufthansa, when they said they couldn't get her into the intended seats. People were able to get her from her wheelchair into a car, and vice versa, but not onto airline seats, even with the help of a local fire department? That was the only part I found questionable. (A DailyMail article had photos of the car, which looked very average.) But I don't think there is a basis for a lawsuit. It's a shame they couldn't have made it work the first time, when she was already seated, but if they were concerned about the seat integrity or could not make do with the seatbelt extenders... I mean, it's hard to fault a flight crew worrying about a seatback collapsing onto other fliers, or the danger of a 400+ pound unsecured object in case of turbulence. It's all just ... very sad.