Seizure on a plane
I am in shock. On the plane home from Denver/SLC tonight a woman had an intense seizure less than three feet away from me. Fuck. She just started shaking and convulsing uncontrollably. They laid her down on the aisle and tried to hold her to keep her from hurting herself. It was so incredibly fucked up. I still can't believe it happened. One moment she was feeling cold and naseous, the next minute she was gone. Literally couldn't control herself. It felt like it lasted forever, but I think it may only have been 3 minutes. After it she couldn't speak. She couldn't say where she was or what her name was. She slowly came to. The doctor who was sitting behind us (thank god) finally got her back in her seat and she was having trouble breathing so they brought her a canister of oxygen and hooked her up to those masks they display in the safety presentations that no one ever pays attention to. The big guy sitting between up was assigned to watch the oxygen gauge and make sure it didn't drop below 500. Then another guy was kneeling in the isle next to her, asking her to squeeze his hand while he monitered her pulse with the other. This went on for at least 15 minutes. Everyone was staring. I wanted to be helpful but there was nothing I could do. I realized the most helpful thing I could do was stay calm, not gawk at her and let the guy next to me, the doctor, and the man in the isle take charge and do their job. I wanted to help so much, but there was nothing I could do.
Now I can't help but wonder if that reading light I turned on in the dark plane played a role. Or if I should have recognized the signs earlier. She was tripping out from the moment she sat down on the plane. Before take off I heard her explain the story of how her hotel reservations got messed up and "they" got her on a flight and she hoped to be home later that night. I heard ask her mom when her child went to bed. She was really freaking out. Maybe I could have tried talking her down but I was just so exhausted from my trip. And I didn't know her. I just wanted to read on the plane and get home to my bed. Now I'm way too worked up to sleep. All of this happened less than three feet away from me and I wasn't able to do anything to help or stop it. All I could do was watch.
I can't remember the last time I was awake at 3 am, but I can't even think of sleeping right now. I think I'm in shock. I feel like I want to cry but I can't. I just can't wrap my head around this.
After they finally got her settled into her seat with the oxygen tank it was just surreal. We were 120 miles away from Houston. The pilot said we were 15 minutes away. It felt like forever. The turbulance was really bad when we were landing. I started getting really bad motion sickness. I just focused on my breathing and tuned into the rocking of the plane. Up until that point the dramamine had been working. I hadn't had any problem with motion sickness on that flight until after the seizure. Then I started feeling hot and nasueous.
It was all so surreal. When we got to the gate no one stood up or spoke. We were all frozen. I've never seen that before. We all watched and waited as they carefully escorted her off the plane. She had a really hard time walking. The medics met her at the door and I have no idea what happened afterwards. I remember she kept saying she couldn't feel her fingers. She said she felt numb. I really hope she is okay. I think her name was michelle but I've already forgotten. She was supposed to catch a flight from Houston to Shrevport Louisiana. She was going to spend the night in the airport.
Now I can't help but wonder if that reading light I turned on in the dark plane played a role. Or if I should have recognized the signs earlier. She was tripping out from the moment she sat down on the plane. Before take off I heard her explain the story of how her hotel reservations got messed up and "they" got her on a flight and she hoped to be home later that night. I heard ask her mom when her child went to bed. She was really freaking out. Maybe I could have tried talking her down but I was just so exhausted from my trip. And I didn't know her. I just wanted to read on the plane and get home to my bed. Now I'm way too worked up to sleep. All of this happened less than three feet away from me and I wasn't able to do anything to help or stop it. All I could do was watch.
I can't remember the last time I was awake at 3 am, but I can't even think of sleeping right now. I think I'm in shock. I feel like I want to cry but I can't. I just can't wrap my head around this.
After they finally got her settled into her seat with the oxygen tank it was just surreal. We were 120 miles away from Houston. The pilot said we were 15 minutes away. It felt like forever. The turbulance was really bad when we were landing. I started getting really bad motion sickness. I just focused on my breathing and tuned into the rocking of the plane. Up until that point the dramamine had been working. I hadn't had any problem with motion sickness on that flight until after the seizure. Then I started feeling hot and nasueous.
It was all so surreal. When we got to the gate no one stood up or spoke. We were all frozen. I've never seen that before. We all watched and waited as they carefully escorted her off the plane. She had a really hard time walking. The medics met her at the door and I have no idea what happened afterwards. I remember she kept saying she couldn't feel her fingers. She said she felt numb. I really hope she is okay. I think her name was michelle but I've already forgotten. She was supposed to catch a flight from Houston to Shrevport Louisiana. She was going to spend the night in the airport.