Frail couple Raymond and Constance Heath sue holiday firm Thomson – Raymond and Constance Heath, a very frail couple, will sue the holiday firm, Thompson. They expected to get help coming off the plane once they touched down at the airport. Help was not there.
The couple had requested assistance navigating the stairs of the airplane during the exit process. The airlines didn’t provide anyone to help them. What happened next is down right shocking.
The cabin crew did not help the elderly couple. In fact, they were shouting at them to hurry down the stairs. They rushed the couple out the plane and down the stairs. The couple was holding up the rest of the passengers. This didn’t end well as you probably guessed.
Frail couple Raymond and Constance Heath sue holiday firm Thomson
Mr. Heath, 82 years old, and is wife, 79 years old, slipped coming down the plane’s stairs and fell all the way to the bottom. They tumbled all the way down causing injuries to both of them.
Mr. Heath managed to escape with just a few bumps and bruises, but his wife wasn’t so lucky. Mrs. Heath suffered some serious injuries. Injuries to her head that has put her in and out of the hospital for more than a year.
To this day, her head is still hurting and she has ‘splitting headaches’ that will not seem to go away. The issue is that she is so frail that she may not fully recover from these injuries.
‘To put it bluntly our lives are ruined,’ said Mr Heath yesterday.
And just when you think this case couldn’t get any worse, it does. The company, Thompson, denies any liability in the incident that happened on the island of Sal in Cape Verde. They even refused to refund the cost of the couples £3,650 two-week holiday.
I usually think our society is way too quick to launch a law suit on someone else or a company, but I am so glad this couple decided to sue the Thompson organization. This is a shame.
Mr. Heath, from Benfleet, Essex, said “We are both disabled and use walking sticks. I’ve had two replacement knees and my wife has had a new heart valve which makes her a bit unsteady.”
The couple was helped onto the plane, which is where they flew out from, so you know Thompson received the request for assistance. It was understood the ground staff at Sal International Airport were suppose to be there for the couple when they landed, but they were not. The couple had to manage the stairs alone.
Mr Heath said: ‘One of the cabin crew shouted at us to “hurry up” so we started struggling down the steps. We lost our footing and fell from the top of the stairs to the runway.’
The fall happened in December of 2009. The fall that ‘scalped’ Mr. Heath’s wife is one that they will never forget.
They missed their scheduled flight home as a result of the accident and fall. They had to stay in the hospital and on the island for over a month. They missed their flight home and had to wait until other accommodations could be made.
A spokesman for the Thompson firm said: ‘As they have sought legal representation it would be inappropriate for us to make further comment on the case.’
DISCUSSION FORUM: What do you think of the Thompson organization for not helping this elderly couple, rushing them down the stairs causing them to fall, then not taking responsibility for their actions?
This story is unbelievable. I can’t believe an organization could be so irresponsible. But I want to hear from you. Tell us what you think about Frail couple Raymond and Constance Heath sue holiday firm Thomson.
Learn to spell
Nikki, the corrects have been made.
Thanks for visiting.
Last one… Gatwich?
Is there such lack of humanity and thought in your life that when you read an article such as this all you can find to comment on is the occasional spelling mistake? Shame on you Nikki. Very disappointing.
Plain? or Plane!
Their name is Heath and not Health!
Way too quick not way to quick!
They misted their flight?????
Seriously, if you are writing, shouldn’t you learn how to spell?
Thanks for the corrections. It is appreciated. I think I know how to spell, just editing the before launching could use some work.
Thanks for taking the time to point it out. The corrections have been made.
Have a good day, David!
David, I totally agree with you. I mean I’ll admit I am not a superstar when it comes to the English language, but when you are an editor for a news reporting firm, I think you should be able to string together a few paragraphs without awful mistakes such as those in the above example.
I mean, come on, you have said that you have corrected grammatical and spelling issues more than once and there are still errors. I think you need to start reviewing work before it goes online or failing that get a new supervisor/lead editor.
As for the actual story… The couple are clearly annoyed and yeah, I would be too, but I believe taking legal action might be a tad extreme. The travel insurance would have paid for medical expenses (and if they did not have insurance that is their own fault.) so they do not really deserve compensation there. Maybe for the fact that they missed some of their holiday and were unable to enjoy it 100% so I feel they should be entitled to something there, but I do not think that they should get a full refund. As for the arrogant employee who told them to ‘hurry up’, I think he should be disciplined but for being rude – especially frail people, but court is a bit extreme. I mean that is just my opinion, which is of course subjective and only my opinion so does not really count for a lot – just voicing it to the people!
I’m looking forward to flying from ‘Gatwich’ airport myself!
never mind the bloody spelling what about the atrocious treatment of this elderly couple by the all money grabbing airline,, i hope they win their lawsuit.
It is shocking that they were not helped; it is also shocking that the grammar in your article is so bad. Do you not have spell check on your computer?
Get a life you pedant. Think about how about your grandparents, your parents, or even your were to feel if you were shown such treatment?
Spelling ….?? ARE YOU FOR REAL??? It’s this attitude generally, that contributed to these two people falling. No one seems to care about the right thing to do anymore – instead, concentrating on minor issues that don’t really matter as long as you get the gist.
Does someone who has dyslexia get the same treatment from the spelling bee crew?? Ridiculous. It merely indicates to me that these people aren’t intelligent enough to 1) read over any grammatical errors and 2) understand that hey, the story itself is what matters.
Think Taylor, you certainly handled those remarks better than I could and on the subject of your topic, it’s a heinous and outrageous thought that even another holidaymaker couldn’t help them down the stairs.
I pictured myself in that position … I would have an arm linked with each of them, and I would also be turning back to shout something back at those airline staff who told them to hurry (something along the lines of asking if they would treat their grandparents in this way). I would certainly have slowed down even more, just to prove a point.
To the spelling bee… do you know what I refer to when I say i, isti, it, imus, itis, nt … no, I didn’t think so …
Wow.
Spirit2all,
Thank you for your comments. As for handling the commenters, I just don’t allow it to bother me. No one is perfect, even if they want to believe they are. And I know that I have to take better care with the articles and get better over time. I will.
They are just passionate about what they are reading. This is great to us at The Random Forest. People are interested enough to see us get it right.
And I agree with you on slowing down if I were elderly and the airline people were trying to rush me out the door. That is just a shame!
Thanks again for commenting and hope to see you around here more often.
I also made a comment about the grammar and spelling in your article probably more because i’m slightly OCD about that sort of thing. However with respects to the actual story it is very sad that the couple were treated in that way. I have flown with Thomson and found them to be very helpful. This couple were obviously very unlucky to come across a crew who were likely to be more interested in their turn around rather than the safety of the passengers. I have a medical condition that affects my ability on stairs and to be honest whatever speed i am walking there is no-one going to make me go any faster. I wish the couple all the best.
Most of the comments seem preoccupied with spelling and grammer …. communication problems seem rife these days.
Therefore the incident amply proves the point that communication breakdowns and communication skills in general are factors that need to be addressed at all levels !!!
Meanwhile, the weak and infirm tend to suffer whilst the ‘professionals’ huff and puff and lug around a hefty tome of rules and regulations instead of displaying common sense and common curtesy to the people who, after all, … ARE PAYING THE MONEY THAT PAYS YOUR WAGES.
So, all stuck-up, so called ‘Service industry Staff’ put that in your little-minded rule book / job’s-worth Manual.
A story can be put so its turned one or two ways. In all honesty I dont think thompson is at fault at all. Old people are cerceptiable to falls and yes maybe they should have had assistance but unless they had a person who was with them 100% of the time to assist and even then its hard to prevent accidents. Its the job of the company with whomever they took out medical insurance with not the holiday makers. I wish the couple all the best to get well soon but I hope they do not win the court case as otherwise this world is just turning loony.
Overhyped story about two unfortunate people who fell down some stairs…. Sadly, the author of this article has made a joke of it by frequent and appauling spelling mistakes – If you cant even get the name of who you are blaming or the actual name of the ‘victim’ I think some serious thought should go into the next time you write an article.
It’s obviously not a nice situation to be in, and I’d hate it if it’s was my grandparents. However….. This couple should take responsibility and stop trying to offload blame onto a business.
I cant help but defend the ‘Thomson Organisation’ – If the couple feel they are capable enough of travelling on holiday, then surely they should be responsible for making their way down some steps…. There is a clear quote “I’ve had two replacement knees and my wife has had a new heart valve which makes her a bit unsteady.” – I would have thought this was grounds, or at least a good idea they didn’t travel…. Especially as they are ‘frail’.
Another point – ‘Airport assistance’ would still require them to get themselves up and back down the plane steps. It is only different when a person is wheelchair bound..
I too, wish the couple better, but HOPE TO GOD they loose their case if they’re silly enough to go ahead with it…. Utter madness.
To the people who are defending the Thompson Organisation, have you ever travelled with an elderly person who needs assistance to embark or disembark from a plane? Well I have, it is not easy (can be almost impossible) if the assistance that has been requested does not turn up. We have been to an airport several times that does not have an airbridge, this means steps are required to reach the ground, as this was a problem (person could not climb nor decend the stairs) the airport supplied a wheelchair and transported the person to ground on a lift, they then took them through customs, security, into the baggage hall, and then to the waiting taxi. Nothing was too much trouble for this airports, so why the failure this time at this airport. The Airline staff should have asked them to remain in their seats and then requested one of the airport staff (in my experience they are usually at the bottom of the stairs) to get the assistance requested.
As for the person who says ‘I would have thought this was grounds, or at least a good idea they didn’t travel…. Especially as they are ‘frail’.’ Well words fail me, why should people be held back from travelling to other countries because they are not as fit as you or I? I hope you never ever end up in ill health, but if you do, please keep on travelling and enjoy yourself as this is sometimes all that can keep you going.
Also I don’t know how many of you know, but it is extremely difficult to get full travel insurance when you are over 80 and in ill health, (loads of restrictions and very expensive at that.) so this couple probably only got the basic which may not have covered the cost of the holiday. Reading the article, it looks like they never had the holiday at all as the wife was in hospital for a month and they missed their return flights home.
I hope they win their case as they have been treated by Thomson as though they don’t count, well they do and winning their case will prove to Thomson and the couple that they do count.
One last thing, Sod the spelling bee people, I have managed to get through the article without any problems and didn’t even notice the spelling mistakes until I read the replies, (could some of the spelling mistakes actually be typos, anyone thought of that?) Plus it is a known fact that so long as the all the letters of the word are used and first and last letter is correct most (if not all) people understand what the word is. Now the spelling and the grammar police can have a go at me, as my spelling and grammar are not perfect – result of a comprehensive education, but that’s another story…..
Peace, Health and Happines to all.
I also have travelled with Thomson to Cape Verde and got the same appalling treatment, and an offer of fifty pounds discount on a future holiday.
To Thomson you are just a number.
I’m afraid that the frail couple have to take some of the responsibility. They are the ones who best know their limitations, which was why they requested help. If the help was not there (maybe the person/persons allocated to help them were busy assisting someone else) then they should have stayed in their seats until the help was provided. It is that simple. I don’t know why they got up and went to the top of the steps if their help was not available. Since they did, they should have then either asked other passengers for assistance, or gone back to a seat and waited. Thomson obviously arranged for help when they got on the flight, so if there is some communication breakdown between the UK and the destination then they cannot be held solely responsible. British people are far too easily bullied in this sort of situation. You would not find other nationalities who would cave in to this sort of pressure from the aircrew.
The problem with stories like these is that you are only getting one side. A frail old couple fall down steps from a plane. The airplane staff (allegedly) told them to hurry up. injuries are sustained when the couple fall on the steps.
Scenario 1 – the old couple should have informed Airport staff (not the travel company) of assistance required to embark/disembark from plane. It is the job of the airport staff to provide assistance – not the holiday company. After all it’s not the job of the holiday company to fly the plane nor is it their staff on board.
Scenario 2 – if, as it is alleged, the plane staff member told them to hurry up going down the steps, they (a) did not need to heed this “advice” as they had landed and there was no reason for hurrying; (b) they stayed on the plane and let the other passengers pass by so they could disembark at their own pace; or (c) at this point in time they could also have informed the plane staff to contact the airport staff for someone to come out and help them down the steps should they have required this help.
Scenario 3 – the travel company had already advised them of airport staff’s ability to help them embark and disembark and this in turn had been relayed to the plane staff.
Scenario 4 – a court will not impose a penalty on the holiday company as they are not ultimately responsible for passengers safely embarking / disembarking a plane as it is the airplane staff, and the airport staff, who are responsible for passenger safety. It is *possibly* also mentioned in their insurance documents that it is their own responsibility to embark / disembark in a safe manner (and this makes me wonder if this is what has caused this story to appear in the first place – most stories about people suing travel companies is because their insurance company are not paying out for something which was ultimately their own responsibility and therefore they aim for someone else).
I wish (any) journalists these days would give you both sides of a story rather than sensationlising one side just to seek sympathy.
I have elderly friends who have never been treated badly embarking / disembarking planes in this country, and abroad. However that’s not to say the couple in this story have not and I hope they are both well enough to do more travel. My oldest friend (85) is a worldwide traveller, and if i take the ages of the said couple I would say they are probably just annoyed that no one came to their help rather than wanting to blame the travel company.
If this story escalates and becomes a national story and thomson are indeed sued – they’re not always the innocent ones, large holiday companies have claims against them all the time by injured parties – then fair play to the couple, and perhaps the airport staff need to buck up their policy of Always having extra staff available for All elderly passengers.
PS It’s not the job of the airplane staff to help passengers down steps either. This is (daft imo) in contravention of their health and safety policies – they are only applicable in flight.
Very well put.
Glenn Hoddle would say they deserved it for their failings in a previous life.
The rane in Spane falls manely on the Plain.
The woman involved was my Mum. Sadly she passed away yesterday, the same day the story broke. I am heartbroken.
Ian, I am so sorry to hear about your loss. Nothing hurts more than losing a parent.
You and your family are in our prayers.