Southwest Airlines employees allegedly declined to assist a disabled Florida woman who claimed to have become paralysed after falling down a jet corridor. The Florida woman later passed away.
According to an ongoing lawsuit, Gaby Assouline, 25, was using a wheelchair when departing from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for Denver in February 2022. Gaby had a genetic muscular disorder, and she and her mother had asked an airline staff for assistance.
According to Assouline and her family, her plea was denied, and she was left on her own to descend the jet bridge.
She was soon “thrown” from the wheelchair and hit her head, suffering severe injuries that caused paralysis from the neck down, according to the lawsuit.
According to her family’s GoFundMe website, Assouline passed away on Sunday after spending 11 months in bed.
“Gaby was not alone at the end,” they wrote. “We were all blessed to be with her bedside, crying, praying and sharing Gaby stories.”
After the plane mishap, her mother, Sandra Assouline, claimed last year that her once-vivacious daughter was forced to use a feeding tube and was unable to talk.At the time, her mother remarked, “The terror and suffering she is displaying in her eyes when she wakes up in those few seconds of awareness is too much to endure.
Assouline claimed that her daughter was limited in her movement due to a condition that causes muscle tissue to transform into bone.
Southwest claimed in court documents that Gaby rejected assistance rather than asking for it, which infuriated Gaby’s relatives.
Her mother insists that she and her daughter asked for a wheelchair to be used and for staff members to assist Gaby in navigating the airport.
This Monday, the airline announced Gaby’s passing.
“Southwest offers its sincere condolences to Ms. Assouline’s family, friends and all whose lives she touched,” the statement reads. “We have a more than 51-year commitment to caring for our People and Customers and remain engaged with the parties involved.”
Assouline’s family said it had hoped Gaby would eventually be able to return home before her dire condition deteriorated.
“Gaby’s life was tragically interrupted 11 months ago but she put up the greatest fight with grace, friends, laughter and the strong belief that she would leave the hospital and come home very soon,” they wrote online. “Unfortunately, complications robbed Gaby of that ending.”
