A Guy Died on My Flight Back from Korea

If blood started spraying out of his mouth when they tried to do chest compressions he probably died of a huge, sudden GI bleed, like an ulcer or a ruptured esophageal varix.

You can have some bleeding from a blood clot (deep venous thrombosis) that travels to the lung (pulmonary embolism) and causes lung tissue to die but that's not usually the case when they're large enough to cause sudden death.

Sounds like everyone handled the situation pretty well. Like you said there isn't much you can do when you're thousands of miles from land.

That was trippy.

A DVT can cause a pulmonary embolism which can kill a patient if not treated immediately.

That's quite a situation to see Wejo. It sounds as if the airline handled it as efficiently as possible under the circumstances. Deep vein thrombosis is a risk on longer flights because of the protracted period sitting with your legs bent in a tight area without walking.

Some airlines just leave the deceased strapped in their seats (if in first class) and cover them with blankets.

Probably better off that there was no family on board. That would have been hard to watch.

Sorry you went through this Wejo, but I believe it's not such a rare occurrence. Same thing happened to me on a transatlantic flight. The man sitting on my row (I was window, he was aisle, and there was a lady in between) died during the flight. At first we both assumed that he was sleeping, then the lady next to me realized something was wrong and called a flight attendant who called for a doctor. We were already preparing for descent at that time so we landed normally at JFK and left the plane as if nothing happened. I assumed it was a heart attack, but I'd never know.

It's strange and probably wrong, but maybe because traveling makes things appear out of reality, like a parenthesis in our normal lives, I didn't feel upset or troubled by the event.

Not so uncommon. This poor bloke's girlfriend sat next to him for 10 hours after he choked to death. She thought he was laughing, waited to long, and nothing could be done.

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/man-chokes-to-death-on-jetstar-flight-20110904-1js1n.html

Used to fly alot and saw a lot of medical emergencies and people being taken off in wheelchairs, but never witnessed a death. The most disturbing time was when an ancient woman several rows up suddenly stiffened up in her seat and puked first to the right onto the people sitting next to her then puked left into the aisle. She then passed out. I thought she was a goner, but a doctor on board the flight tended to her and revived her. Afterwards, the flight attendant said they thought she had the flu.

I am trying to decide whether I would rather see a guy die or get puked on by an old lady. This could take all day.

A very unfortunate event, and traumatic for those seated nearby.

This is going to happen. Globally, more than 500,000 people are onboard airliners at any given moment. Perhaps it's surprising that we don't see this more often.

almostbq wrote:

Deep vein thrombosis is a risk on longer flights because of the protracted period sitting with your legs bent in a tight area without walking.

This is a bit misleading. It's a risk for people who spend abnormally large amounts of time sitting down, like multiple consecutive 12 hour flights, stuff like that (Dick Cheney had one after spending something like 72 hours in a plane over the course of a week). An average person flying across the world once has virtually nothing to worry about.

Also, you wouldn't just drop dead with no warning. The affected leg would be painful and swollen for some time before the clot moved. And even left untreated, the mortality rate for DVT is something like 2%. People with a history of blood clots and heart attacks are at higher risk.

Not saying it can't happen, but it's really not a risk for an average person on a single long flight.

wejo wrote:In the customs line, a lady on the flight who was trying to help the man with medical attention said he died of a blood clot. When they tried to do chest compressions blood just shot out everywhere (thus the blanket left on the floor) so there wasn't much that could be done. She said he was an elderly gentleman.

I googled, Deep vein thrombosis, to see if a clot could just kill you on the plane, but will leave that one for the doctors.

Ever hear of Ebola?

DVT is a much bigger risk than the airlines would like people to know. Viktor Rothlin got thrombosis on a long distance flight and his running has never been the same since. Distance runners are at a higher risk because they have slower heart rates that allow blood to accumulate in arteries. If you are on a flight that lasts more than 2 hours, you need to wear compression socks and make your self get up every hour and walk around.

Precious Roy wrote:

If you are on a flight that lasts more than 2 hours, you need to wear compression socks and make your self get up every hour and walk around.

Are you kidding me? Do you do this on car rides longer than two hours too? How about when you go see a long movie at the theater?

Just because it happened to one dude doesn't mean it's a "big risk."

This is especially true if you are taking EPO and blood conditioners too. Think of the Nordic Ski teams where the team doc has to wake them up at night to do a few jumping jacks and keep their blood flowing.

Also, the compression socks come in handy if the bathroom is occupied.

It sounds similar to the situation that Craig Virgin went through earlier this year. Fortunately the all time great Mr. Virgin survived. Didn't his clot situation arise after a flight?

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=3984516&thread=3982985

MD from hell wrote:

Ever hear of Ebola?

Is that what they speak in the cities?

Craig Virgin rules wrote:

It sounds similar to the situation that Craig Virgin went through earlier this year. Fortunately the all time great Mr. Virgin survived. Didn't his clot situation arise after a flight?

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=3984516&thread=3982985

Doesn't say anything about whether a flight was deemed to be the cause. He had a clot in his foot AND multiple clots in his lungs, so it sounds more like a general clotting issue than a one-time thing.

I was on a flight to Australia once and we'd been delayed for a couple of hours.

It was steammy and oppressive in the plane. We'd been in the air about an hour when I saw this big guy in a white linen suit staggering downt he aisle. He looked tanned and clammy. I put my book down cos he didn't look good and I wanted to prepare myself.

Sure enough a seat away he staggers. I jump up and grab him, but he was a big dude. I am 6'3" 230, he was bigger and older. And clammy - did I say clammy?

I was able to support him down to his knees, and his head was on my shoulder. Very romantic. I held him there and the waiters and waitresses who work for the ailine came running. I could feel his sweaty armpits and he smelled of booze.

And then he shit his pants. Right through the linen suit. He let go the bowels. Wow. I kept holding him, people thought it was over for him. The airline personage asked if there were any drs on the plane. I am on my knees holding him up in his damp suit. A guy comes up and says he's a psychiatrist and she says - "Is that a Dr"?

They ended up moving him back to his seat and he stayed there the rest of the flight. Obviously he didn't need the bathroom any more.

And they gave me a free diet coke. Though I found out they don't charge for those anyway.