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A California woman with cancer and her family were kicked off an Alaska Airlines flight from Hawaii to California after airline employees said she needed a note from her doctor before she could fly, CBS San Francisco reports.
Elizabeth Sedway of Granite Hill, California, suffers from multiple myeloma and said she would miss several chemotherapy treatments as a result of her missed flight from Lihue, Hawaii to San Jose on Monday.
"I am scheduled for chemo, at home, on Tuesday and Wednesday," she wrote on on her Facebook page. "Because of this, I will miss my chemotherapy, my children will miss school, and my husband will miss important meetings."
"I am so heart-broken and disappointed. They won't allow me to fly, until I can get MY doctor, who is not here, to state, in writing, that I am 'cleared to fly,'" she said.
I don't think this is so awful. They had reason to believe she might not be medically stable to fly. If something happens in air, there are no ERs to rush someone to and the airlines IMO are within their rights to protect themselves. It seems like if it was so urgent she get home in a certain time frame, she'd have flown a day earlier or something...anything can happen any day to delay or cancel a flight.
To me this is damned if you do, damned if you don't for the airlines...someone dies in air, they're the bad guys...require medical clearance, they're the bad guys..
It sounds heartless, but I can understand the position of the airline. They have a passenger who appears quite ill, wearing a mask, and mentioning possible weakness ... they're not going to be terribly comfortable putting her up in a plane over the Pacific Ocean for 5+ hours and having to deal with any medical-related emergencies that may occur during that time.
She should have been cleared by her doctor. My cousin was not allowed to fly when he was doing chemo. He came with us to Vegas anyway, and wound up almost dying in the hospital there, and had to be driven back. He died 6 months later from complications caused by the flight.
Could have been that she overdid it a bit when telling the airline about her weakness while sitting in the handicap section wearing a surgical mask and that prompted the airline folks there to question her ability to fly for several hours.
Could have been that she overdid it a bit when telling the airline about her weakness while sitting in the handicap section wearing a surgical mask and that prompted the airline folks there to question her ability to fly for several hours.
The appearances are...interesting. If she is in such terminal shape, the airline is within their purview to ask for medical clearance. An inconvenience, to be sure. Such clearance doesn't grow on trees. Still, before traveling , medical concerns should be taken care of. Its a lot of angles to look at, but a trip to ones doctor , before traveling, and asking the right questions, can still any problems.
Of she HAS to have treatment on the layover, Lihue can accommodate her, and in acute situations, most insurance is understanding. Been there, done that. This is NOT a case of a heartless corporation. The first concern is for the traveler, then the airline. I see no wrong here.
Had the "poor-me" woman not brought attention to herself ("I might need extra time to board"... putting on a mask...etc), she would have been as invisible as the rest of the passangers. But no! She had to make sure everybody knew how ill she was....and weak....and susceptible to germs in the air...and needy of special boarding privileges...
Leave it to CBS to turn the airlines in the guilty party. The madness never stops.
Had the "poor-me" woman not brought attention to herself ("I might need extra time to board"... putting on a mask...etc), she would have been as invisible as the rest of the passangers. But no! She had to make sure everybody knew how ill she was....and weak....and susceptible to germs in the air...and needy of special boarding privileges...
Leave it to CBS to turn the airlines in the guilty party. The madness never stops.
It does seem like a set up. As a person with medical concerns, I see to it I'm covered when traveling. Medications, are easy enough, stuff like chemo and such, idk, but I would assume, in acute situations, any hospital would accommodate. I have had to have acute care, when traveling, before. NEVER , was I turned away. For injury, infection, and a few other issues, so a chronic care patient , I don't see any issue with life saving or maintenance treatment, being denied, here. The carrier just wanted to make sure she was OK to make transit. Nothing more. Relax..people. its all GOOD.
Had the "poor-me" woman not brought attention to herself ("I might need extra time to board"... putting on a mask...etc), she would have been as invisible as the rest of the passangers. But no! She had to make sure everybody knew how ill she was....and weak....and susceptible to germs in the air...and needy of special boarding privileges...
Leave it to CBS to turn the airlines in the guilty party. The madness never stops.
Agreed. I don't know if she thought she'd be given special treatment or if she anticipated being kicked out, but it looks like she got the attention she wanted.
Agreed. I don't know if she thought she'd be given special treatment or if she anticipated being kicked out, but it looks like she got the attention she wanted.
Either way..yep. Non issue.
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