Samantha Mitchell, 39, an SEN teacher from Stoke-on-Trent, was left in tears after Ryanair left her dialysis machine in the UK when she flew to Italy for a holiday. She requires dialysis five times a week due to kidney failure, and without the machine, she feared she could die.
Holiday nightmare
Mitchell flew from London Stansted to Reggio Calabria in southern Italy on July 26 for a two-week holiday. Upon arrival, she realized her 43kg dialysis machine was missing. She began phoning local hospitals to find a machine, as she was due for dialysis at 5pm that evening.
In tears, she contacted Ryanair staff, who then called Stansted airport. She was told the machine would be sent the following day. The airline flew the device out and delivered it by taxi to her accommodation by the end of the next day, but by then, Mitchell said she was unwell and 'swelling up' from toxins.
Error by check-in agent
Ryanair said the machine was not loaded due to "an error made by the check-in agent" but that as soon as they were alerted, they "rushed" it onto the next available flight.
Mitchell described the experience as "full on panic and anxiety," adding: "I had to stop drinking and eating because I didn't want any more toxins in my body. I had started to swell up because I didn't pass urine and felt a bit sickly."
Risk of heart attack
She explained that without the machine, she risked a heart attack: "Without it I would be very swollen and it would have become hard to breathe. I would start being sick and the worst thing would be a heart attack as the toxins in my blood would be too much."
Mitchell recounted her check-in experience: she was told the machine was too heavy for the cabin, but when she asked for it to go in the hold, they said it would be okay. After security, she was called back to speak to a supervisor about the weight, who confirmed it would go in the plane.
Traumatic experience
When she arrived in Italy, her father received an email saying the machine hadn't been loaded due to its weight. Mitchell and her family then called Ryanair's baggage team. A Ryanair spokesman said the device was not loaded due to an error by the check-in agent, and it was rushed onto the next flight to Reggio Calabria via Lamezia, then delivered by taxi the following day.
Mitchell called the ordeal "traumatic" and said it had put her off travelling: "It's been a very traumatic experience, a horrible start to the holiday. I am scared of the way back, it makes me not want to travel again in my life."
Her mother, Elaine, echoed the concern: "This is not a case of clothes gone missing, this is a life-saving machine. It was traumatic for all of us. We immediately rang the baggage team and they told us it's a matter of health and safety. We were saying 'she's got a waiver, it's not a health and safety issue, it's a life and death issue.' If Sam doesn't have dialysis, she will be ill or worse. All they kept saying was that it was too heavy."
