A Florida woman who is confined to a wheelchair due to a lifelong disability was dropped physically by an airline employee on a June 2017 flight. To add insult to injury, the airline irreparably damaged the lady’s wheelchair while unloading it. The total fiasco is just the latest in a series of accidents that have plagued airlines that serve Florida.
The incident is an enlightening example of the lack of training that many airlines that serve Jupiter, Boca Raton, and Orlando give their employees. The man who attempted to help the disabled lady certainly had good intentions. Those good intentions did not prevent serious bodily injury.
As the injured woman related in an interview with news reporters, a person who has lost the use of their legs becomes totally dependent on their arms and upper body to deal with the necessities of life. The lady is now faced with hiring a person to provide care for her while she recovers as well as enormous medical bills.
She also faces a loss of income and will have to replace her wheelchair. This is no ordinary wheelchair. The wheelchair was custom made to accommodate the woman’s damaged legs and her body. The chair made it easy for her to do ordinary things that most people take for granted.
Once this horrible tale became public, the airline shut up about it completely. The once sympathetic and understanding employees and head of the airline now refuse to comment. The airline is being faced with a lawsuit for damages to the lady and the losses that she sustained due to the negligence of the airline. She also wants her wheelchair replaced. She deserves compensation for suffering and mental anguish.
Avoidable accidents like these happen almost every day in every airport in Florida. Even the best attorney may have been hard pressed to obtain the justice that a victim deserved in the past. Airlines do have the money and power to manipulate courts and the law in Florida.
You must understand that a substantial part of Florida’s income depends on tourism. The tax received from that income provides airlines with more leverage in courts than ordinary citizens have.
The present practice of law in Florida is greatly assisted by IT support for law practices. This tool has radically enhanced the speed with which lawyers can access data that is relevant to a given case. Knowledge is power in the courtroom. This advance in the practice of law gives power back to the ordinary person.
A Florida personal injury attorney can be used to access information that is pertinent to similar cases that happened in Florida. The first phase of any litigation is state courts. A success in state court can be the beginning of a personal and financial victory over an airline that just does not care.