A flight attendant who is unable to do her dream job after breaking her leg in seven places during heavy turbulence has won a six-figure payout. Eden Garrity, 31, was pushing a trolley when the Thomas Cook flight from Cuba to Manchester was caught in a fierce Atlantic hail storm.
The impact of the turbulence pushed the flight up 500 feet, pinning Eden to the ground and breaking her ankle. Eden was unable to walk at all for two months after the incident and underwent numerous surgeries and intensive rehabilitation.
She has suffered nerve damage that makes it painful for her to stand for long periods of time, meaning she will never be able to work as a cabin crew again. And while the payout has helped her immensely financially, Eden says it doesn’t outweigh the fact that she will never do her dream job again.
She said: “It has made me bitter, I am resentful about it. It’s just frustrating. It was the best job in the world and I feel like I lost a part of my personality. You see people you’re friends with and they travel through the air and I don’t, I’m grounded forever. I will never be able to fly for work again.
“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. Without the accident I could have flown in the future and it’s terrible.
“I appreciate the payout, but it doesn’t bring back what I lost. It helps with getting my own property, but I’m 31 and I have the rest of my life ahead of me and I can’t do what I want to do .”
Eden, from Leigh, was left lying on the floor of the plane for an hour while the seats were cleared after turbulence hit the flight. She was left terrified in the back row of the plane and was eventually rushed to hospital as soon as they landed in Manchester – seven hours later.
Doctors said the impact of the plane floor was “like a sledgehammer” on her foot. She had broken her fibula in five places, her tibia once, the side of her foot and her ankle bone.
Eden required surgery to place screws and metal plates in her leg, as well as a huge external metal brace, and was unable to walk for two months. The plane had taken a detour of about 160 kilometers to avoid adverse weather conditions as it crossed the Atlantic Ocean in August 2019.
But Eden says 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 on the flight they usually tell us before the flight and let us know what the plans are.
“For example, they might say ‘we’re going to put up the seat belt signs’ or ‘we’re not going to release you.’ The doctor said it felt like a sledgehammer hit the bottom of my foot.
“Six passengers lifted me up and down to lay me across three seats at the back of the plane and the ambulance was waiting for me at the airport. I wasn’t one of those people who always knew what they wanted to be when they grew up were up.
“I wasn’t particularly academic and didn’t go to college, but when the opportunity to become a flight attendant came my way, I felt like I had found my life path. I absolutely loved my job and I knew I had my calling found, so to speak.
“So to suffer from injuries so severe that I literally couldn’t return after the incident was completely heartbreaking. I suffered from depression and was diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety.”
Describing the incident shortly after it occurred in 2020, Eden said the pilot asked crew members to sit down for five seconds before the plane hit the storm. But Eden didn’t have time to secure the cart and sit down for the heavy turbulence.
The 27-year-old was suddenly pushed to the ground. Eden said at the time: “We had to deal with a huge hailstorm. The pilot said to me afterwards that it was going black all around him. It was by far the worst turbulence I have ever experienced as a crew member or as a passenger.
“It was absolutely terrifying. The plane shot up 500 feet in a matter of seconds. The force of the turbulence pinned me to the ground and forced me towards the floor.
“My feet were stuck to the ground and my ankle completely broke. I didn’t realize what had happened until I tried to take a step and I collapsed. My ankle was at a right angle and I just started screaming. The bottom of my foot was pointed to the side.
“My body went into shock and I started to panic. Eden lay on the floor for an hour as the seats around her were cleared.
Halfway through the flight the ‘excruciating pain’ started. She added: “The pain started when my shoes were taken off and I was given a splint.”
Eden was rushed to Wythenshawe Hospital as soon as the Thomas Cook flight from Cuba landed in Manchester. According to the AAIB accident report, the aircraft experienced “unexpected severe turbulence” that lasted 90 seconds.
“The aircraft encountered severe turbulence, causing the autopilot to disengage at 500 feet,” the report said. “It was accompanied by the sound of hail hitting the nose of the plane.”
Eden spent nine days in the hospital.
Lawyers for Thompsons Solicitors argued that staff should have been informed that the flight would encounter poor flying weather and that additional precautions should have been taken. While Thomas Cook’s insurers denied responsibility for her injuries, Eden has received an undisclosed care package worth six figures.
Damages expert Neil Richards, who represented Eden, said: “The circumstances surrounding the incident in which Miss Garrity suffered her injuries should have been foreseen. The issue of onboard safety, especially when operating in certain geographic regions, including the Caribbean, poses a known health and safety risk.
“Turbulence also poses a clear and serious hazard to everyone on board, and especially to airline personnel who have to work in and around the cabin in such environments.”
Unite legal director Stephen Pinder said: “I am pleased with the outcome achieved for our member and their family. Unite will take the lessons learned from this case into our industrial work to ensure other aviation workers are protected from similar incidents.”