MID-AIR HEART ATTACK HIT WITH 15 CARDIOLOGISTS ABOARD
A Liverpool woman suffered a mid-air heart attack on the way to her daughter’s wedding, and 15 cardiologists were aboard.
Dorothy Penman, 67, of Anfield, Liverpool, was flying to Orlando for her daughter Christine’s wedding to her fiancé, Gareth, she told The Guardian in a story published January 1, 2004.
“The doctors on the plane saved my life,” Penman said.
She had no history of heart trouble. Penman, Christine and Gareth flew from Manchester to Philadelphia, planning to connect to Orlando from there.
After waiting in Philadelphia, the group hurried through customs and ran to another terminal to catch the connecting flight.
It was in the customs queue that the pain started, a severe ache in her back and across her chest.
“I thought it was just indigestion,” she said.
Lights above the seats
Once she was on the connecting flight, the pain turned into a full-blown heart attack, with chest and arm pain and sweating. The plane was at 36,000 feet.
The cabin crew asked whether there was a doctor on board.
“When the cabin crew put out an announcement to ask if there was a doctor on board, lights started appearing above seats all over the plane,” she said.
Fifteen cardiologists were on the flight, heading to a conference in Orlando. Penman said she would have been happy if a single doctor had come to help, but she had not expected 15 cardiologists to form an orderly queue.
“There were so many of them that many went and sat down again because they were not needed. I think there were about five of them with me,” she said.
The doctors set up a drip and gave her other treatment, then told the crew to land as soon as possible.
The plane came down in Charlotte, North Carolina, which Penman described as the nearest place. An ambulance was waiting, and she said it went through all the red lights.
“Someone up there likes me,” she said of the whole episode.
Medical emergencies happen on about one in every 604 commercial flights, the CDC said. Diversions most often involve cardiac arrest, cardiac symptoms, obstetric or gynecologic issues, or possible stroke.
What happened next
Penman had emergency surgery and stayed in the hospital for four days.
The wedding had been scheduled for the day after the heart attack. She said she “begged and begged” the doctors to let her leave so she could be there.
Her clothes had gone on to Orlando with the luggage. She made it to the lakeside ceremony in a wheelchair.
Penman said she never learned the identities of the doctors who helped her on the plane.
She said she had made a good recovery and was waiting for an appointment with a British heart specialist.
