Working your way through the airport is not always the easiest thing to do. We sometimes have to travel long distances, walking down hallways that seem endless before we ever even get to the gate.
If you’ve ever been in an airport, you have probably been thankful for the moving sidewalks, also known as a travelator. They are similar to an escalator, but they travel on a single level.
We don’t typically give it any thought because we use them so often and we know that thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people use them every year. Every once in a while, however, we are shaken to our senses.
At Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport last year, a woman had a tragic accident on one of those moving conveyor belt sidewalks. Unfortunately, it failed and she had to have her leg amputated.
The 57-year-old woman was walking along the travelator but at the end, her leg got stuck. According to reports, she tripped over her suitcase and ‘fell through a gap’ at which point her leg was trapped.
The medical team was there quickly and they tried to free her leg but unfortunately, the injuries were very severe. She had her leg severed and the bones and tendons were damaged, so they had to amputate just above the knee.
The woman can be seen sitting on the moving sidewalk with her leg trapped in the works. After the amputation took place at the airport, her limb was placed in a box in case they were able to reattach it.
She was transported to the Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital shortly after she was freed but was told that her leg could not be saved.
Her son wrote the following on Facebook: “My mother’s morale is quite concerning. We got to speak to her a bit before and after the operation… Even though she showed her strength through facial expression and tone of voice, we knew that deep down she was broken because she suddenly lost a leg.
“Our family knows very well that we can neither make her leg work like before, nor can we bring back the same life she had lived.”
Karun Thanakuljeerapat, the airport director also spoke about the incident. He said: “On behalf of the Don Mueang international airport, I’d like to express my deepest condolences regarding the accident.
“I’d like to insist that we will ensure that no such accident will happen again.”
Additional information was then added later by a spokesperson: “The director of Don Mueang Airport and management has visited the patient to follow up on the treatment and received information from the medical team at Bhumibol Hospital that she is currently in the process of receiving treatment from the medical team.
“Don Mueang Airport is deeply saddened by the incident and ready to fully accept the responsibility as well as take care of the medical expenses and compensation.”
It took a few months, but the woman was eventually able to take her first steps. Her son spoke about that time, saying: “My mum walked for 15 minutes and must practice every day. It’s very encouraging. She’s still as beautiful as ever despite everything that has happened. I hope that soon she’ll be running faster than me.”
