(no subject)
two hours into my 12 hour flight from cairo, a man on the plane had a heart attack and passed away. he collapsed in the galley near the bathrooms and his wife started screaming; the next thing we knew the crew was calling for all doctors on board. there happened to be two cardiologists (i learned this later) who tried to save his life, as well as the crew with their first aid kits, but nothing could be done. apparently he was in his late 60s/early 70s, had been very sick and may have suffered another heart attack earlier in the week. he and his wife, who was probably in her 40s, lived in the philippines and they had what appeared to be an 8 or 9yr old son. they had been traveling from the philippines to the u.s. to visit his grandchildren, with a vacation in egypt along the way. one small fortunate thing is that because this happened in the galley, the people on the plane were spared the sight of the man lying dead (there were many children on board), although i could see his feet from where i was sitting.
the ordeal occurred two rows behind me, so i heard when a woman who seemed to be a nurse, or at least was acting in that capacity, gently tell his wife after many minutes of trying to save him that they were going to have to pronounce her husband dead. i saw her scream and cry in disbelief (her son was sitting further up in the plane and thankfully was spared this part, at least). there were quite a lot of religious people on board the plane (perhaps a tour), so one of those women administered the last rites on the body (her son was sitting next to me; i would not have known this otherwise). a lot of confusion ensued over whether or not to land the plane or keep flying; apparently the pilot wanted to continue on, and since the man was dead and not in need of medical attention, they decided it made the most sense to continue. they brought as much as ice as they had on the plane to pack around the man, and turned up the AC on the plane to very cold. i did not realize that you can get to the cabin below the plane while the plane is in the air, but apparently you can, because they ended up taking the body beneath the plane.
after this occurred, we still had 8-9 hours left to fly. the woman and her son were moved to first class, and were surrounded by people who had been involved and were trying to help. i did not see the woman for the rest of the flight, or afterwards when we landed and the police entered the plane; i thought about her constantly throughout the flight and when i returned home last night. i feel so tremendously sad for her, to have that happen in the midst of strangers, to be trapped on a plane for 8 more hours. i would have done this anyway, but i called b. the second the plane touched the ground, just immensely grateful to hear his voice. i'm still processing what happened and cant really get it out of my head -- his wife's scream, his body laying on the ground. i have many stories to share about my egypt adventure, and i will, but this strange event is occupying my mind at this very moment.
the ordeal occurred two rows behind me, so i heard when a woman who seemed to be a nurse, or at least was acting in that capacity, gently tell his wife after many minutes of trying to save him that they were going to have to pronounce her husband dead. i saw her scream and cry in disbelief (her son was sitting further up in the plane and thankfully was spared this part, at least). there were quite a lot of religious people on board the plane (perhaps a tour), so one of those women administered the last rites on the body (her son was sitting next to me; i would not have known this otherwise). a lot of confusion ensued over whether or not to land the plane or keep flying; apparently the pilot wanted to continue on, and since the man was dead and not in need of medical attention, they decided it made the most sense to continue. they brought as much as ice as they had on the plane to pack around the man, and turned up the AC on the plane to very cold. i did not realize that you can get to the cabin below the plane while the plane is in the air, but apparently you can, because they ended up taking the body beneath the plane.
after this occurred, we still had 8-9 hours left to fly. the woman and her son were moved to first class, and were surrounded by people who had been involved and were trying to help. i did not see the woman for the rest of the flight, or afterwards when we landed and the police entered the plane; i thought about her constantly throughout the flight and when i returned home last night. i feel so tremendously sad for her, to have that happen in the midst of strangers, to be trapped on a plane for 8 more hours. i would have done this anyway, but i called b. the second the plane touched the ground, just immensely grateful to hear his voice. i'm still processing what happened and cant really get it out of my head -- his wife's scream, his body laying on the ground. i have many stories to share about my egypt adventure, and i will, but this strange event is occupying my mind at this very moment.