Marianne added:
Feeling like she had no choice, my grandma moved to Economy and spent the next 16 hours in distress and pain. My aunt tried to comfort my grandmother, who was in tears, and was horrified to see how much pain she had to endure during this flight.
To make her feel a little bit more comfortable, Rose placed a bag under Nanay Paz’s feet.
Upon arrival to Australia, my grandma’s legs had swollen, she suffered from a stiff neck and her whole body ached. She is still in great distress and pain from this ordeal. She was recently prescribed stronger pain medication and Valium to help with sleep.
Our family is heartbroken that this painful plane ride back to Melbourne will be the last memory of our trip for my grandma, and this has ruined an otherwise incredible family reunion. I want a guarantee that what happened to my grandma will never happen to another disabled or elderly person again, and that we can stand together to stop discrimination towards the disabled and elderly.
According to Marianne, despite her disability, Nanay Paz is a strong woman. But for her to cry during the flight was unheard of for her family, and it really revealed how distressed she was during the flight.
The family emailed the airline’s executives about the incident and was told to contact the Complaint Resolution Official (CRO) department.
