A Scare in the Air, on Cathay Pacific Flight 826

We were on flight 826 from Hong Kong to Toronto. It was scheduled to fly a northerly arc over parts of Alaska and last about 14 plus hours. The flight was full with a few hundred passengers on board, from babies to elderly, and mainly Chinese. The flight attendants were all native Chinese, but spoke fluent English.

The flight had been smooth with only minor turbulence, and we were about 7 hours in. I had completed watching the movie Allied, which was a great movie by the way.  It had been about 16 hours since we had woken for the day and had a large breakfast, but not much since. We had been hopping from taxis to airports, to flights. I was dead tired and slumped down in my reclined seat for a fitful but welcome sleep.

After a couple of hours, I woke with a slight sensation of air sickness, and a brutally sore neck. In the next few minutes, the air sickness sensation progressed rapidly, so I woke Marlene for some Gravol. In the minute it took her to discover she didn't have any in her purse, I became desperate. She passed me the barf bag, but an available lavatory was only 3 rows away, so I went for it.

As I sprang up out of the seat, I passed out, falling over the seat in front and the lady occupant with a baby. The cabin was dark, the neighbouring passengers either watching movies or asleep, were startled and unclear what was happening. Marlene grabbed for me, and the guy to her left yelled for help.

With the help of the cabin crew, they got me laying down. After a few minutes, I started to come around. The first thing I was aware of was the senior flight attendant hovering over me, wiping me down with a cold compress, asking me about panes in my chest and any breathing problems. She was offering to consult their company doctor on the ground. Other flight attendants were massaging my legs. The pilot had been advised of a medical emergency in the cabin. Other passengers in the vicinity were scarred, but probably no more than Marlene.

Of course, a 14 hour flight feels long under any circumstances, but this one was turning into something else. After a half hour or so, I was resting comfortably, but continued laying down. After an hour or so, I still felt weak, but the cabin medical emergency was lifted.

The Cathay Pacific flight crew had acted professionally and got my mid-air emergency under control. Marlene and I were grateful, but she was left holding her breath for the next several hours.

We landed without further incident, but it had been a scare in the air, on flight 826.

For the last story in this series, click here:
http://travellingwithsteveandmarlene.blogspot.ca/2017/03/kudos-and-other-things-half-world-away.html