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Sickly, obese Bronx woman dies in Hungary after airlines say she's too fat to fly
New York Post ^ | November 26, 2012 | Chuck Bennet

Posted on 11/26/2012 11:23:14 AM PST by billorites

A sickly, obese Bronx woman was left stranded in Hungary then died from kidney failure after airline officials booted her from three New York-bound flights because she was too fat, her husband says.

“All we wanted was to come back home to get her treatment,” said a grieving Janos Soltesz, a Staten Island Ferry security guard whose 56-year-old wife, Vilma, died in Hungary nine days after she was kicked off the first of three jets.

Vilma, who weighed about 425 pounds, had only one leg and used a wheelchair. She traveled with her husband of 33 years to Hungary on Delta and KLM airlines on Sept. 17.

They spent several relaxing weeks at a vacation home they owned in the Hungarian countryside. It was a trip they took almost every year.

Before the journey, their travel agent informed Delta of Vilma’s condition and bought two tickets for her and one for Janos.

They planned to come home Oct. 15 so Vilma could resume treatment with the doctors she had been seeing for years.

But the couple, both natives of Hungary, were told Vilma couldn’t be accommodated by KLM after they boarded the jet home, Janos said.

“They tried to fit her into the back of the plane, but they didn’t have an extension to secure her,” Janos, 56, said.

Her illness, a combination of kidney disease and diabetes, caused her to gain water weight, and the airline said it didn’t have a seat-belt extender for her, Janos said.

He was also told the seat back couldn’t handle his wife’s weight.

“It appeared on the passenger’s return that it was not physically possible for her to board the aircraft, despite every effort made by KLM to this end. A seat or belt extender did not offer a solution, either,” said KLM

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: airline
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To: Ouderkirk

“Seat belts on an airplane are to help the authorities identify you in the wreckage, not save your life.”

What a moronic statement.

Are you truly clueless?

Have you never been in an airplane?

Things and people can and do go “flying around” under certain not unheard of circumstances when they are not tied down.

I’ve been there done that and would NOT want to see a 450 pound women coming at me because the aircraft suddenly dropped out from under her.


61 posted on 11/26/2012 5:23:49 PM PST by Nik Naym (It's not my fault... I have compulsive smartass disorder.)
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To: billorites

She was not too fat and handicapped to fly given they flew her over to Hungry for a vacation with no problems.

But after her travel agent gave the airlines the heads up that she was a health problem, they made sure to use the opportunity to abuse their authority in making sure she suffered and died.

Her husband should be a very rich man.


62 posted on 11/26/2012 5:27:34 PM PST by SaraJohnson
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To: SaraJohnson

“But after her travel agent gave the airlines the heads up that she was a health problem, they made sure to use the opportunity to abuse their authority in making sure she suffered and died.”

Not true at all. I read an article that said that they spent one hour on one of the planes just trying to get her in a seat and they could not. That’s when the captain said that they spent too much time with her and the rest of the passengers had connections to make.

Have you seen her photo? I posted a link at #49.


63 posted on 11/26/2012 7:10:05 PM PST by toldyou (Even if the voices aren't real, they have some pretty good ideas.)
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Just read the article and it says they went September 17th and a month later were returning to the US to continue her treatment for diabetes and kidney disease. She waited a MONTH to do dialysis? Our oldest daughter has had kidney disease since 1992 (one transplant from her dad which went south in 2000) She is on dialysis and has to do dialysis three times a week. How did she get by with one month? Fluid WILL build up and restrict her heart/lungs.


64 posted on 11/27/2012 5:03:21 AM PST by gopheraj
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To: napscoordinator

Same here! Talk to you soon.


65 posted on 11/27/2012 5:13:12 AM PST by miss marmelstein
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To: Da Coyote
It is sad, but the article says they were natives of Hungary. There is also no mention of them being or attempting to become citizens of the US, only that he worked in the Bronx.

So she wasn't 'locked out of her own country', she was IN her own country.

66 posted on 11/27/2012 5:19:27 AM PST by MamaTexan (In Propria Persona)
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To: Nik Naym

Do you honestly believe that seat belts in a plane crash are going to help save your life?

Are you that clueless? Seriously ?

The frequency of turbulence of such magnitude as to toss a 450 lbs woman about the cabin is very low. Have you ever been in such a storm on a commercial airliner.... and before you answer in the affirmative I will answer with...I don’t believe you.

The likelihood of this woman making it home unscathed are decidedly better than yours of getting injured, lest of all by her fat arse being tossed about the plane.


67 posted on 11/27/2012 12:56:22 PM PST by Ouderkirk (Democrats...the party of Slavery, Segregation, Sodomy, and Sedition)
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To: gopheraj

I agree. I cannot understand why she ever made the trip in the first place. If I was that sick, I would never ever travel! The husband is blaming everyone but himself....and has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit. Shame on him!


68 posted on 11/27/2012 7:01:37 PM PST by toldyou (Even if the voices aren't real, they have some pretty good ideas.)
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To: toldyou

I agree and it also said he found her dead. Where was he before to have found her dead? Shame, shame on him.


69 posted on 11/28/2012 5:31:40 AM PST by gopheraj
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