A teen with a severe nut allergy almost died during a British Airways flight after a fellow passenger reportedly refused to stop eating peanuts.
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An airline snack caused a London teen to blackout during the flight due to a severe peanut allergy
Joanna Jones,39, recalled the moment her 14-year-old daughter Poppy blacked out and almost died during an eight-hour flight to London. According to Metro UK, Poppy is deathly allergic to nuts and Jones said a male passenger reportedly refused to put away his peanut snack despite airline staff telling him multiple times about the teen’s allergies. During the emergency situation, a nurse assisted Poppy after the airline staff called for help, and doctors from Arizona provided medical advice after the pilot contacted a call center. The teen was rushed to a nearby hospital after the flight landed in Gatwick.
Jones claims the unidentified male passenger didn’t care about putting her daughter’s life at risk and called the entire ordeal a ‘nightmare.’
‘It was a nightmare for all of us and I really thought she might die. It was really, really frightening and it was all down to a passenger who carried on eating nuts despite at least two announcements not to. It was so frightening. The pilot declared a medical emergency and at one point they were considering making an emergency landing but in the end he decided to carry on to Gatwick.
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The unidentified male passenger reportedly ignored the airline crew’s warning about Poppy’s peanut allergy and continued eating his snack
The family was returning home from a trip to Antigua with other relatives. Jones also said airline staff told the man prior to taking off to put his peanut snacks away but she noticed him eating the snacks again.
‘I was worried and asked if we could be moved but there was no availability and the crew asked him to stop eating the nuts but he ignored the requests and carried on. Surely someone’s life is worth more than eating a few nuts?’ she has asked. ‘It’s crazy that more isn’t being done about this issue. All the cabin crew can do is ask someone not to eat nuts and that’s it – it’s ridiculous.’
Jones gave her daughter two EpiPens after she went into anaphylactic shock and the nurse who assisted her attempted to stabilize her with a malfunctioning monitor. British Airways released a statement about the incident and said the safety and welfare of their passengers.
‘The safety and welfare of our customers is always our priority, and we take the issue of allergens very seriously. Our crew cared for a customer who appeared to suffer an allergic reaction onboard, and they arranged for paramedics to meet the aircraft.’
Jones also wants a law put in place to prevent further incidents from happening on future flights.
‘I honestly thought she was going to die and it’s now put me off flying in the future because I just can’t take the risk again. Poppy and I feel that it is in others’ best interests that people know what can happen and we hope for a change in legislation to ban nuts completely onboard flights and for there to be consequences for those who ignore this.’