A Florida family has filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines, alleging that their crippled daughter’s life was turned upside down after she was thrown from a wheelchair while boarding a flight, paralyzing her from the neck down.
Gabrielle ‘Gaby’ Assouline, 25, was boarding a Southwest aircraft at Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on February 25 to visit her sister in Denver when she sustained the life-changing wounds.
Assouline, who was identified with a genetic disease at the age of 12 that made it challenging for her to walk great distances but instead allowed her to be extremely functioning, boarded the aircraft in an automated wheelchair.
According to the March complaint, Assouline was riding down the jet bridge in her wheelchair when it reportedly hit a junction and she was thrown.
According to the family attorney, the incident resulted in a devastating spinal cord damage that left her immobile and on a ventilator.
She’s a prisoner in her own body, according to family attorney Robert Solomon. He means, one sees her, she’s with it, she understands, but she’s genuinely fighting for her life. It tears one’s heart apart.
That’s why he assured the family that they’ll do all they can to bring this family justice. As there is no credible reason for dropping one’s child off at an airport, driving them all the way to the gate, and then receiving a phone call informing them that his/her child fell and broke their neck.
Sandra, Assouline’s mother, informed that the last time she saw her daughter was when she handed her off at the gate, which she was permitted to do thanks to an escort pass.
The next thing she knew, she got a call from BSO (Broward County officer on the scene) stating her daughter was in an accident and she fractured her neck, Sandra Assouline explained.
Southwest Airlines and its contractor, G2 Secure Workers, are accused of being ‘careless and failing to give necessary wheelchair assistance or guidance, failing to adequately educate staff, and failing to alert of risks or dangers in the jet bridge.
They assume something in that jet bridge caused her to be ejected, according to the family’s attorney.
According to him, the family does not yet know when their daughter will be allowed to leave the hospital.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to assist the family with medical costs. Over $112,000 has been raised thus far.
In the article, Assouline’s parents noted that due to her immobility, they are learning to read lips in order to interact with her.
It’s incomprehensible; he simply think about it, Gaby’s father, Felix Assouline, said.
On the fundraising website, Assouline’s mom stated that despite her daughter’s hereditary disease, fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), she never stopped loving her life.
Sandra Assouline wrote, Gaby is a warrior. She is intelligent, passionate, witty, creative, and incredibly resilient. She enhances all those around her just by being her funny, bright self. She is enrolled in online college courses and is an advocate for making life easier for persons with disabilities.
Gaby made art with her hands, spending hours caring to her blossoming garden and crocheting well-loved pieces of apparel, she continued. Gaby can make friends with anyone. She has long-distance pals all across the world with whom she spends hours upon hours each day.
She makes everybody laugh in a way that only Gaby can produce in each of them, her mother noted. Gaby is a treasure in their family. Gaby is incredibly generous to all she knows.
In reply to the complaint, Southwest Airlines issued a statement on Tuesday.
The safety of their employees and customers on the ground and in the air is Southwest Airlines’ top priority. They evaluated the customer’s first description of her trip experience and responded to everyone involved personally.
Southwest will continue to collaborate with the customer and all parties involved in the investigation and resolution of the details and circumstances surrounding her travel experience. Southwest has spent more than 51 years caring for its employees and customers and is dedicated to doing so in the future.
The family’s lawyer describes the airlines’ comments as “insensitive.”
It’s really callous, Solomon remarked of Southwest’s comments.
Now they’re going to fight. That’s what they hired him to do, just as their daughter’s fighting.
Assouline’s mother stated on the fundraising site that once her daughter is discharged from the hospital, she will need to be sent to a live-in inpatient rehab center where she will learn to cope with her new reality.
Gaby will require occupational, speech, physical, psychological, and a variety of other therapy to restore what she has lost. They need to refurbish her entire place to make it usable for her when she returns, God willing. A life-long recovery procedure is required for damage of this magnitude.
