THUNDER BAY — Brooklyn Ibey says two strangers likely saved her life on a recent flight.
And she said she’s upset with the airline with how it handled her emergency.
Earlier in June, the 24-year-old Thunder Bay woman took a Porter Airlines flight back to the city from Toronto, where she’s attending school, to surprise her family for Father’s Day. Ibey, who periodically has seizures after an accident about six years ago, said she started to feel one coming on and alerted the woman in the seat next to her.
While she said some details afterwards are hazy, she distinctly remembers two of her other fellow passengers — who she would later learn were Andrew McKenzie and his fiancée Jodie Selinger — helping her through the ordeal.
“They saw this all happen and they rushed to my side,” Ibey said in an interview. “Honestly, if it wasn't for them, who really knows?”
The first step, she said, was getting her out of her seat and laying her on her side in the plane’s aisle.
Getting someone having a seizure onto their side laying down is important, Ibey added, as during an episode, people can froth at the mouth or vomit, which, if they’re left upright, can be very dangerous.
“That person can choke, that person can stop breathing,” she said. “So, it was very important to get me on my side and be laying down.”
McKenzie told Newswatch he heard the conversation Ibey was having about her seizure coming on and reacted — as he said virtually no one else was.
“I literally take her seatbelt off,” he said. “I looked to another helpful (passenger) to help me get her out of her seat.”
“It's awkward and kind of hard to do it yourself, right?”
McKenzie said he knew what to do because his child has experienced serious seizures.
He believes the other passenger was a nurse or other medical professional.
He said he also had help timing the length of Ibey’s seizure and said it lasted about 42 minutes. During that time, he said, the in-flight crew was telling him to stop intervening.
“The whole time I was doing that, the flight attendants were pretty much yelling at me to get back in my seat and that we need to move her,” he said, adding that they were citing “protocols” to get her back seated.
“I was like, ‘no, we can't, like she will literally die if we move her and put her back in her seat.’” He said he continued to stabilize Ibey’s head and maintained communication with her with the goal of keeping her calm.
“This is a human life that we’re trying to save right now.”
Newswatch requested comment from Porter Airlines about the incident, including whether flight attendants are strictly instructed to keep passengers in their seats during such situations. In an emailed statement, the airline didn’t respond to that question, but said their crew members are certified in St. John Ambulance training, including a first aid course.
“When a medical incident occurs, cabin crew seek additional support by paging for any medical personnel onboard, while maintaining the safe operation of the aircraft,” the airline’s statement said. “Ground-based medical assistance is also available through a third party to provide advice on managing more serious issues.”
In this case, the airline said a nurse identified themself and “proceeded to support the passenger,” with the help of the senior flight attendant.
According to the statement the captain decided to divert to Sault Ste. Marie and requested an ambulance to meet them when they landed.
With a recommendation from the nurse the airline said the captain decided to keep Ibey in the aisle, where she remained until landing, calling the situation "abnormal."
Porter’s statement doesn't name McKenzie and Selinger but refers to “passengers not directly involved in the situation,” and as “disruptive.”
“They were distracting the crew by vocally challenging aspects of the response and interfering with care for the ill passenger.”
McKenzie — and Ibey herself — disagree. McKenzie said he was congratulated for his actions by the plane’s captain and paramedics on the ground after they made the emergency medical landing. Ibey, who was hospitalized after the incident and now is recovering at home in Thunder Bay, said she’s extremely grateful.
“For strangers, to do that was absolutely amazing,” she said. “We couldn't believe it and I'm just so grateful for him and (Jodie) that day.”
Ibey said she’s convinced McKenzie and Selinger did the right thing, even when they were being told not to and isn’t happy with Porter’s handling of her emergency. She said she has questions about airline staff training in more complicated medical situations.
“We can have invisible illnesses, disabilities, you don't know by looking at somebody that something can be wrong,” she said. “So, I'm hoping for more compassion and care from, not just Porter, but all of the airlines, and we really don't want this to happen to anybody else.”
The airline said the crew “followed their training and we support their handling of the situation.”
Ibey said the ordeal has made her think twice about travelling alone.
“We are now a little wary of me travelling alone, unfortunately,” she said. “I think from now on, for a bit anyway, I will definitely have a companion, and if something ever happens again, it's important for somebody to be there for sure.”
-With files from Gary Rinne
