- Eden Garrity, 31, required surgery and intensive rehabilitation after an injury in 2019
A flight attendant whose leg was broken in seven places during heavy turbulence has won a six-figure payout after being forced to quit her dream job.
Eden Garrity, 31, was pushing a trolley and serving passengers when the plane entered a tropical hailstorm over the Atlantic Ocean.
She was thrown to the ground and pinned to the ground in pain when the Thomas Cook flight from Cuba to Manchester was suddenly and violently pushed 500 feet into the air.
After Ms. Garrity had been on the floor for an hour, six passengers helped carry her to a row of seats, which had been cleared. Seven hours later she was taken to hospital upon landing in Manchester.
Mrs. Garrity required numerous surgeries and intensive rehabilitation and was unable to walk for two months. She has suffered nerve damage that makes it painful to stand for long periods of time.
Mrs Garrity, from Leigh, near Manchester, said that while she was grateful for the payout, “it doesn’t bring back what I’ve lost.” She added that she felt “bitter” and resentful that she “will never be able to fly for work again.”
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She said: ‘It was the best job in the world and I feel like I’ve lost a bit of my personality.
‘I feel lost, I have a family and a son and it’s great, but I’m very limited in what I can do. I miss making memories, seeing different countries.
“I’m 31 and I have the rest of my life ahead of me and I can’t do what I want to do.”
Doctors said the impact of the plane floor during the turbulence was “like a sledgehammer” on her foot.
Ms Garrity broke her fibula in five places, her tibia once, broke the side of her foot and fractured her ankle bone.
The flight, in August 2019, had already made a 100-mile detour to avoid bad weather before the storm hit.
She said she and other crew members were not informed of the risk of turbulence, either during the journey or during the pre-flight staff briefing.
She said, “If we get some turbulence, they usually tell us before the flight and let us know what the plans are.” Ms. Garrity added that before she was injured, she “absolutely loved her job.”
She said: ‘To suffer injuries so severe that I literally couldn’t return was completely heartbreaking. I suffered from depression and was diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety.”
Ms Garrity filed a compensation claim through Thomas Cook’s insurers when the company went into administration in 2020. The insurers denied responsibility but agreed to pay Ms Garrity an undisclosed six-figure compensation care package.
Ms Garrity revealed her ordeal days after a British man died and dozens were injured when a Singapore Airlines flight encountered severe turbulence last Tuesday.
Geoff Kitchen, 73, from Thornbury near Bristol, is said to have suffered a heart attack when the plane plunged 6,000 feet in three minutes.
Another Briton is said to be among five passengers still in intensive care in hospital.