Air steward Thomas Cook receives huge payout after horror flight

A flight attendant has been awarded a six-figure payout after breaking her leg in severe turbulence.

Eden Garrity, 31, was serving passengers when the plane, which was traveling from Cuba to Manchester, was hit by severe hail over the Atlantic, causing extreme turbulence.

The force of the incident catapulted the plane 500 feet up, knocking Eden to the cabin floor and shattering her ankle in seven places.

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Following the traumatic event, Eden faced two months without the ability to walk and underwent several surgeries along with intensive rehabilitation.

Suffering nerve damage means enduring the pain while standing, dashing her hopes of ever working as a flight attendant again. Despite the financial relief the paycheck provides, Eden said it can’t compensate for the loss of her passion. She said: “It’s left me bitter, I’m angry about it. It’s just frustrating. It was the best job in the world and I feel like I’ve lost a piece of my personality.”

“You see people you’re friends with and they’re traveling in the sky and I’m not, I’m grounded forever. I’ll never be able to fly to work again.”

“I feel lost, I have a family and a son and it’s great, but I’m very limited in terms of what I can do. I miss making memories, seeing different countries. If it wasn’t for the accident, they would have been able to fly in the future and it’s terrible. “

“I appreciate the paychecks, but they don’t give me back what I’ve lost. It helps me get my own property, but I’m 31 and I have the rest of my life ahead of me and I can’t.” I’m not doing what I want to do.”

Eden, from Leigh, Greater Manchester, was left lying on the floor of the plane for an hour while seats were cleared after the turbulence.

She was laid across the back row of the plane in agony and was taken to hospital as soon as they landed in Manchester – seven hours later.

Doctors said the impact on the floor of the plane was ‘like a sledgehammer’ that hit her in the leg. She broke her fibula in five places, her tibia once, broke the side of her foot and broke her ankle.

Devastated, Eden required surgery to insert screws and metal plates into her leg, as well as a large external metal brace, and was unable to walk for two months.

The aircraft took a detour of about 100 miles to avoid adverse weather conditions while crossing the Atlantic in August 2019. However, Eden says she and other crew members were not informed of the risk of turbulence either during the trip or before the flight. staff briefing.

She said: “Usually if we’re going to have any turbulence during the flight, they’ll tell us before the flight and let us know what the plans are.”

“For example, they might say ‘we’re going to fasten your seat belts’ or ‘we’re not going to let you go’. The doctor said it was like a sledgehammer hitting my foot.”

“Six passengers picked me up and put me in three seats at the back of the plane and an ambulance was waiting for me at the airport.

Eden said she wasn’t particularly academic growing up, but found her passion in flying. She added: “When I got the opportunity to become a flight attendant, I felt like I had found my way in life.

“I absolutely loved my job and knew I had found my calling so to speak. Suffering injuries that were so severe I literally couldn’t come back after the incident was absolutely heartbreaking. I suffered from depression and was diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety.”

Lawyers from Thompson Solicitors argued that the staff should have been informed that the flight was going to have bad flying weather and that additional measures should have been put in place.

While insurers Thomas Cook denied liability for her injuries, Eden received an undisclosed six-figure compensation care package.

Injury law expert Neil Richards, who represented Eden, said: “The circumstances of the incident in which Miss Garrity was injured should have been foreseen.”

“The issue of flight safety, particularly when working in certain geographical areas including the Caribbean, carries a known health and safety risk.

“Turbulence also poses an obvious and serious danger to everyone on board, and in particular to airline staff who are required to work in and around the cabin in such an environment. Unite legal director Stephen Pinder said: “I am delighted with the outcome for our member and their families .

“Unite will take the lessons learned during this case back into its industry work to help ensure that other airline workers are protected from similar incidents.”

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