Airlines sued over obese woman"s death

A woman died on holiday after airlines allegedly failed to fly her back home for medical treatment. Picture: New York Post / flickr.com
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A MAN whose morbidly obese wife died last year after she was refused a seat on three different flights home from Europe has sued the airlines involved for $5.7 million.

Vilma Soltesz, 56, died in Hungary on October 24 last year after airline officials told her she was too fat to fly home. She weighed 193kg, had only one leg and used a wheelchair.

A lawsuit filed by her husband Janos accuses all the airlines involved – KLM, Delta and Lufthansa – of wrongful death and gross negligence.

The couple had flown from their Bronx home to Budapest, where they spent several weeks relaxing at a holiday house they owned in the countryside.

But Vilma fell ill and sought treatment at a hospital, where she was cleared to fly home but told to see her doctor immediately once she arrived. However, her husband claims Vilma was kicked off three flights and left unable to get home.

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One attempt to leave reportedly ended up seeing her ordered off a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight after she struggled to move her wheelchair into her assigned seats. A later attempt on a Delta plane saw the airline allegedly unable to provide her with an adequate wheelchair.

The last attempt, on a Lufthansa plane, ended when they were told to disembark as they were delaying passengers too long.

Vilma, exhausted, was found dead at her holiday home two days later.

Her husband wants answers.

“He wants to know why his wife had to die because the airlines simply didn’t want to be inconvenienced,” Ostrov-Ronai, the lawyer representing Mr Soltesz said shortly after the woman’s death.

“Very rarely do you have discrimination causing much more than humiliation and psychological damages, but in this instance, the discriminatory actions of the airlines led to something much more serious – Vilma’s death,” Mr Ronai said.

“All we wanted was to come back home to get her treatment,” said Mr Soltesz, a Staten Island Ferry security guard. “I’m lonely now. Wherever I am going, I am just going alone. I am missing her a lot.”

The airlines involved have yet to comment on the case.

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Airlines sued over obese woman"s death