Melissa Sotomayor said in a now-viral video she was humiliated by the way she was spoken to. The airline said it had apologized to her.

Summary

United Airlines apologized to Melissa Sotomayor after crew members tried to make her remove her son’s ventilator during a March 8 flight from Tampa to Newark.

Sotomayor, whose 2-year-old son relies on a ventilator and tracheostomy tube, said staff demanded the equipment be stowed for takeoff despite prior medical clearance.

A third flight attendant claimed the child would “be OK” without it. The captain called her “difficult” and said the equipment was a safety risk.

Sotomayor expressed feeling humiliated and vowed never to fly United again.

  • Polderviking@feddit.nl
    401·
    2 days ago

    In her video, Sotomayor said a third flight attendant told her to remove the equipment and said her son would “be OK until we’re in the air at a high enough altitude.”

    Are they backed by medical degrees or something that they feel they can make these assertions?

    • barneypiccolo@lemm.eeEnglish
      23·
      2 days ago

      When my son was in kindergarten, he was temptoarily on medication for an illness he was getting over, and I went to the school and filled out all the paperwork, and showed the nurse the dosage, etc.

      When the nurse went to give him the medication, the teacher told the nurse he was fine, and didn’t need it, and the nurse left without administering the medication. When I picked him up from school, he was wheezing and really needed his medicine.

      I wrote a very angry email, demanding to know what medical school his tescher had gone to, that she felt she could overrule his pediatrician’s medical orders, and what about that nurse, who should have said “I’m not asking for your permission, I’m TELLING you that it’s time for his medication.”

      Of course, I threatened to consult with a lawyer, and the next day, the teacher was out on maternity leave. She was supposed to start in a month, but apparently the principal decided that it should start immediately.

      I wondered if it was because of my email, but when she returned at the end of the year for kindergarten graduation (thats a thing these days), carrying her baby, nobody would talk to her or even compliment her baby. One mother sat with her back to her, arms crossed, clearly angry. I guess we werent the only parents she pissed off, we were probably just the last straw, being a medical issue with legal threats.

      She did not return to teach the following year.