An Australian man who was aboard the terrifying Singapore Airlines flight when it hit severe turbulence said his wife lost sensation from the waist down due to a serious spinal injury and remains in intensive care.
Keith Davis, 59, from Adelaide, and his wife Kerry Jordan were returning home from a holiday in the UK when their plane suddenly went down on its route from London to Singapore on Tuesday.
The passengers were thrown to the roof and suffered serious injuries, while Briton Geoffrey Kitchen, 73, died of a suspected heart attack.
The plane made an emergency landing in Bangkok and dozens of people required medical treatment.
Nine Australians remain in the city’s Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, including Davis and his wife, and three in intensive care.
Keith Davis, 59 (pictured), from Adelaide, and his wife Kerry Jordan were returning home from a holiday in the UK when their plane suddenly went down on its way from London to Singapore on Tuesday.
Davis’ wife Kerry remains in the ICU and has lost feeling from the waist down.
Davis spoke to the media from his hospital bed and was seen with a bandage around his head and one eye badly bruised.
He said that while she was “absolutely fine” and suffered only superficial injuries, his wife had undergone emergency surgery for a serious spinal injury.
He also criticized Singapore Airlines’ actions after the couple was admitted to hospital.
‘My wife is in very serious condition, she is still in the ICU. “She had emergency surgery and she doesn’t feel anything from the waist down, so it’s a pretty scary moment,” she told Sunrise on Friday morning.
Davis said he and his wife were taking it “day by day” as they waited for his condition to improve.
‘Our goal is to put her in safe conditions so she can fly. That’s the key. So the medical support here at the hospital has been absolutely exemplary,” Mr Davis said.
The 59-year-old man said he was not wearing a seatbelt at the time the plane suddenly fell.
‘There was no warning, no announcement. We didn’t see any indication at all. It was instantly like “wow, what?” It was so surreal,” she said.
“We’re on the roof and then bang, we hit the ground and we’re like, ‘What the hell happened?'”
Davis initially criticized Singapore Airlines, saying they had not received any communication about what they needed to do.
“I called Singapore Airlines as soon as we were admitted to the hospital and they said they would call back. Then I called them again that night and they said they would call again,” she previously told The Advertiser.
‘I’ve been here for three days, my wife is in the ICU, I haven’t had any contact from Singapore airlines… nothing.
‘Where are you Singapore Airlines?’
Since then, he received a personal visit from the airline’s CEO Goh Choon Phong.
The airline apologized to Davis and his wife and said they will provide more assistance to the couple.
The disaster, caused by a pocket of unexpected turbulence 11 hours into the trip, forced the plane to make an emergency landing at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport.
Davis said he knew something was wrong when his wife couldn’t move after hitting the roof during the turbulence.
‘She hit the ground so hard. And you know, I leaned over to her and said, ‘Hey, hey, honey, are you okay?'” she told The Today Show.
‘I could see he was breathing. She could talk, but you know, if you see someone fall to the ground, she’ll try to get up. That wasn’t happening.
And then I realized that I was, you know, spilling blood on her. And then I thought, “Wow, we’re in serious trouble here.”
Jordan had to remain in the aisle for the rest of the flight while her husband tried to protect her from further harm.
Mr David is now waiting for his wife to recover so he can move her to Adelaide.
In subsequent images, a flight attendant is seen with blood on her face (pictured)
Thai authorities said 40 people from the flight remain in hospital and 22 are being treated for spinal injuries.
Six patients are also being treated for head and brain injuries.
Adinun Kittiratanapaibool, director of Bangkok’s Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, said the oldest patient at the hospital is 83 years old and the youngest is a two-year-old boy who suffered a concussion.
Ten Britons, seven Malaysians and four Filipino nationals were also among the 40 people hospitalized.
At that time there were 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board the plane.
Most passengers were transferred to a relief flight to Singapore on Wednesday and most have already reached their final destination.
Singapore Airlines has offered its condolences to the family of the man who died and apologized for the “traumatic experience” suffered by passengers and crew.
