One woman with a severe allergy had a plane ride from hell after the airline couldn't accommodate for her medical issue.
Chloe Fitzpatrick, who has an airborne strawberry allergy was left fearing for her life after the plane wouldn't stop selling daiquiris, rosé wine and Fruit Pastilles onboard, despite the life-threatening risk of her going into anaphylactic shock.
The 24-year-old was excited to jet off on a Jet2 flight for a four-day girl's holiday with her 27-year-old sister, Lucy, last month (18 August) from Manchester Airport.
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Chloe, a dance teacher who hails from Read in Lancashire, said she felt 'discriminated against' after the cabin crew manager refused to cease the sale of the food and drink products on board the near-three-hour flight.
She explained: "If I had a reaction, I'd go into anaphylactic shock and my airways would start closing and could die."
She couldn't even go to the toilets on the flight because she could have been surrounded by strawberry products that could make her seriously ill or 'could have killed' her.
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"I was strapped to my seat. I know it was only two hours but it's a basic human right to be able to go to the toilet," Chloe continued.
"I was thousands of feet off the ground surrounded by products that could potentially kill me."
The stressful situation was also 'extremely distressing and heartbreaking' for Lucy who was left 'terrified' that her sister could go into anaphylactic shock after being rendered unconscious and potentially die in front of her.
"She felt absolutely helpless," Chloe recalled.
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"We said we would buy all the strawberry products on the flight when we knew they [Jet2] weren't going to cease the sales and they refused this," Chloe went on, confused as she has flown with the airline prior and said they were 'brilliant' handling the situation the last time.
And the ordeal didn't stop there as even after the sisters finally landed in Ibiza, they couldn't fully enjoy their holiday over worries about their return flight home.
Lucy rang up Jet2 giving the airline three days' notice about Chloe's allergy needs before their in-bound flight back to Manchester.
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However, they have since claimed Jet2 confirmed in a text message that they were not willing to cease the sales of strawberry products on the plane.
Due to this, the sisters say they were left with no choice but to fork out £500 to fly home with an alternative airline to ensure Chloe's safety.
After returning home, the pair said they reached out to Jet2 about the incident and had to wait two weeks for a response and claim she is yet to have received an apology or any compensation by Jet2.
Chloe has since claimed she will 'never fly with Jet2 ever again', and that the whole ordeal has given her 'future anxiety' in case the same thing happens with other airlines.
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"If someone has an airborne allergy, they should cease the sales of the product and make an announcement. It is just two simple things," she concluded.
A Jet2 spokesperson said: "Ms Fitzpatrick only alerted us to her allergies when she boarded the aircraft. In such situations, we are unable to remove products as we cannot ensure the complete removal of all items that may contain allergens.
"Additionally, it is possible that customers may bring onboard products that contain allergens. However, our highly trained crew did everything they could to look after Ms Fitzpatrick despite this."
The spokesperson added that the airline 'makes it clear' in their terms and conditions that anyone with a severe allergy should make the team aware of this at the time of booking, which 'unfortunately did not happen on this occasion'.
"We also make it clear that if we are made aware of a severe allergy and the customer is not carrying their required medication, they may be refused travel," they continued.
"We are sorry to hear of Ms. Fitzpatrick’s experience, however we took the necessary steps to address the situation, given the lack of notice, and provided Ms. Fitzpatrick with the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding her safety before continuing on with the flight."
Topics: Food And Drink, Health, Travel, UK News, Plane Etiquette
Rhiannon Ingle