A NURSE who claims she was left “humiliated” after being kicked off a flight because of her skin condition is threatening to sue the airline.
Brianna Solari said she flew in for a procedure to remove non-cancerous growths from her skin before she was allegedly kicked off the flight.
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The nurse flew from Sacramento to Los Angeles on Wednesday with Southwest Airlines and was scheduled to return the day after surgery.
But she claims she was questioned by a flight attendant on Thursday about the condition of her skin, which appeared inflamed as a result of her neurofibromatosis.
She said local television KCRA-TV station that Flight 3471’s crew asked her to leave the plane after “concerns” were raised.
Brianna said they suspected she had chickenpox and were concerned about the possibility of transmitting the highly infectious disease to other passengers.
They allegedly asked her if she had any health problems or illnesses and she explained that she had just had surgery.
Brianna claims airline staff told her they needed her to be checked out by doctors before letting her fly.
She then said the flight attendant called a Southwest Airlines doctor.
Brianna said she asked to speak directly to the doctor about her condition, but the employee allegedly refused to allow it.
She said: “This is absolutely discrimination! Violating my medical privacy.
“They don’t need to know that I just said I had surgery and that was it.
“They shouldn’t be snooping on my private medical information.
She added: “I said [to them] ‘let me talk to the doctor’. I was not examined by this doctor.”
Brianna has Neurofibromatosis, a genetic disease that causes non-cancerous tumors to grow throughout her skin.
Sufferers often have visibly red and bumpy skin.
Brianna explained: “I’m missing an enzyme, which is neurofibromin, which is a tumor suppressor.
“So the tumors grow along the nerves and they can be tiny, spiky tumors, or they can be huge. Some of them can be very disfiguring.”
She said she was “humiliated, ashamed and ashamed” by the ordeal and had to receive a letter from her surgeon clearing her to fly.
The airport staff accepted her documents and placed her in the next flight to Sacramento, but she was furious at how long it took to get home.
Brianna added: “It’s hard enough with this condition because I had some visible tumors on my face and arms, and people were talking about it.”
She said she was given a $500 flight voucher and a $45 meal voucher as compensation, but wants to take legal action regardless.
Brianna said she will never fly with Southwest Airlines again and that the situation “could have been handled much more professionally.”
The nurse told the TV network: “They should have waited until they had all the information before making a decision that would impact my day, my flight, my trip.”
A Southwest Airlines representative said The New York Post Office: “We were disheartened to hear about your customer’s experience flying with us from Hollywood Burbank Airport and offer our deepest apologies for the inconvenience.
“Even though our team received authorization for the customer to travel, we were unable to do so in time for the flight departure.
“We rebooked her for a later flight, offered her a travel voucher for a future flight along with a meal voucher, and we are contacting her directly to discuss the situation.”
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What is neurofibromatosis?
The rare genetic condition has type 1 and type 2 forms, but both cause tumors to grow along a patient’s nerves, according to the NHS.
The growths are usually noncancerous, but symptoms differ between type 1 and type 2.
If you have type 1, which is much more common, you may have brown birthmarks known as café-au-lait spots.
Patients also have neurofibromas – soft, non-cancerous growths on or under the skin and are more likely to have learning difficulties.
They may also have clusters of freckles in odd places, such as the armpits or groin, and problems with their bones, vision, and nervous system.
But if you have the rarer type 2, you’re more likely to have hearing loss, tinnitus and balance problems.
Patients are also prone to developing tumors in the brain, spinal cord or along the nerves in the arms and legs.
This can cause weakness in the arms and legs and persistent headaches.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
