Airline returns woman’s lost bag containing prosthetic leg after 12 days

Emily Tuite described the days leading to this moment as “traumatic,” because the bright blue bag she checked for her Sept. 1 flight from Austin to San Diego had her waterproof prosthetic leg inside it. She planned to use the costly, custom medical device to do everything from swim in the Pacific Ocean to shower. However, the critical piece of luggage never made it to her final destination, which she said ruined her trip because of all the time she spent unsuccessfully trying to find it.

She turned to Nexstar’s KXAN Friday for help after exhausting other options. The hours spent calling customer service and talking to employees from Allegiant Airlines resulted in nothing. She said a representative at one point told her the bag never made it onto her Austin flight, even though she received a slip with the tracking number when she checked it at the counter. She assumed someone must have stolen the luggage.

However, a day after KXAN reached a media spokesperson and shared information about Tuite’s situation, she finally got a phone call that the airline found her bag. Somehow, Tuite’s suitcase had another traveler’s information placed on it, so it had been sitting in baggage claim all this time at the airport in Provo, Utah.

I have always admired the story of Douglas Bader, who lost both of his legs in a flat-hatting accident in 1931.

When war broke out, he managed to convince the RAF to reinstate him. He shot down 22 German planes before being shot down himself. This Excerpt from DOUGLAS BADER: THE DOUBLE-AMPUTEE FLYING ACE OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN

On the 9th of August, Bader was at the head of four Spitfires when he spotted a squad of twelve 109s below him. Diving to engage, Bader went in too steep and nearly collided with the German fighters. Pulling up steeply to 24,000 feet, Bader suddenly found himself separated from his squad mates and far away from the action. Contemplating flying home, he spotted six 109s in the distance and decided to engage. It was a fateful decision.

Dropping in below the fighters, Bader shot down one 109 and damaged another. Realising two of the remaining 109s were turning to engage, he decided to high tail it out of there. Unfortunately, he banked in the wrong direction and collided with another 109, sheering off part of his Spitfire’s fuselage as well as its tail and fin. He made an attempt to bail out, but realised his prosthetic leg was trapped. With his stricken plane spinning towards the ground, he realised there was nothing for it and deployed his parachute, snapping the leg’s retaining strap and successfully ejecting from the vehicle. His landing knocked him unconscious. When he woke, it was to find two German soldiers unbuckling his parachute harness.

Bader was sent to hospital in the small French town of Saint-Omer. He wasted no time in trying to escape, despite having only one leg. He made a rope out of bed sheets and escaped out of the window. A one-legged man in a British uniform wasn’t too hard to spot and he was soon recaptured.

After leaving hospital, Bader was invited to visit an airfield by Adolf Galland, the German air ace he had engaged in the skies over the Channel a few weeks before. Bader, still missing one leg, was treated with great respect by Galland and was even allowed to sit in the cockpit of his personal 109. Bader cheekily asked Galland if there was any chance of taking the plane for a spin. Unsurprisingly, Galland politely refused his request.

HE HAD VOWED TO BE A 'PLAIN, BLOODY NUISANCE TO THE GERMANS'

One of the more unusual operations of World War II occurred shortly after Bader’s visit to the airfield. Galland approached the British authorities and offered them safe passage to fly over another leg for Bader. The operation was personally approved by Hermann Goering, himself a World War I fighter ace. A squadron of Bristol Blenheims was dispatched along with a fighter escort, and the replacement leg was duly parachuted into a Luftwaffe base near Saint-Omer. The Germans were not impressed when the bombers then headed off to unsuccessfully bomb a nearby power station; on the plus side, Bader now had two legs.

Bader spent the remaining years of the war in various prison camps where he made several unsuccessful escape attempts. He had vowed to be a 'plain, bloody nuisance to the Germans', and he was a man of his word. One notable escape came when he was a prisoner at Stalag Luft III B. Bader and three other prisoners managed to escape the camp and planned to make their way to the Polish border. Unfortunately, a Luftwaffe officer who was keen to meet the legendary flying ace dropped into the camp to pay Bader a visit. The officer discovered Bader was missing and raised the alarm. He and his companions were soon recaptured.

A few years ago I was coming back to West Texas from the East Coast. We has a flight delay and I barely made my connection at DFW. I made it but my checked luggage didn’t. They told me that it would be on the first flight the next morning and they would have it delivered to me.

The next morning the guy called me to get directions to my house, and I decided to meet him outside.

He got out of the minivan; a guy, with a full beard and a typical man’s haircut.

He was wearing a brightly colored floral sundress and high-heeled sandals.

My first thought was, nobody’s going to believe this.

He didn’t crack a smile. I didn’t know what to say. So I just said thank you!

He didn’t walk like he was accustomed to wear high heels or dresses. I decided that most likely he lost some kind of bet.

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