A passenger who landed at Vancouver International Airport says he almost lost his foot to a septic injury after he was left stranded on a British Airways flight for hours — and was only able to exit the plane after paramedics loaded him onto two airline food trolleys.
Geoffrey Schneiderman, 63, who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, says the incident left him not only with necrotic tissue in his foot, but also with lingering trauma and anxiety about confined spaces.
When paramedics arrived, they used a clamshell backboard, a rigid stretcher that snaps in half down the middle and can be wedged under a person from either side of their body.
They slid the backboard under Schneiderman, then lifted him onto the top of two trolleys normally reserved for serving passengers food and drinks during the flight. Schneiderman’s head and legs hung off either end.
Because the two trolleys were not attached to each other, they slid apart as the paramedics rolled Schneiderman down the airplane aisle. His partner, who was travelling with him, watched in horror.
“The carts started separating — that was the point when my partner said he nearly had a heart attack, because he could see what was happening and heard them call that the trolleys are coming apart,” said Schneiderman.
“Food carts are just not designed to transport people.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Once out of the plane and on the connection bridge, Schneiderman was dragged to his wheelchair.
“They pulled from under my arms and just dragged me. My shoes came off my trousers actually started coming off,” he said.
Schneiderman had planned a month-long holiday in Vancouver, and his family had rented a special vehicle that could accommodate his wheelchair. But he spent most of the holiday bedridden, recovering from an injury to his leg and a serious pressure sore in his foot, incurred during the hours-long attempt to remove him from the plane.