A flight home from a holiday could have ended badly if not for the intervention of a Cumbrian woman on board.

Wigton woman Gina Wilson was on board the Jet2 flight from Paphos to Newcastle on Saturday, October 16, leaving at 10:40pm, with her husband Steven, sister, and brother-in-law, when a passenger on board took ill and collapsed.

Gina’s efforts may have saved the passenger’s life, and in doing so, an emergency landing.

She, who works at women’s outpatients in Cumberland Infirmary, described the events as they happened: "The plane was quiet with people sleeping, a lady had got out of her seat to go to the toilet and as she got to the front of the plane my husband Steven noticed the lady seem to stand against the wall and she slipped down the wall falling to the ground.

"Steven rang the call bell and I noticed no one came to assist other than my brother-in-law Allan who was standing beside the lady. 

"I quickly realised something was wrong and got out of my seat, I knelt down to the lady who wasn't responding and checked her airway.

"She was breathing; I spoke to the lady several times, but she wasn't responding.

"I carried on trying to get the lady to open her eyes and speak to me when she came around, I asked for oxygen just in case it was needed and proceeded to ask questions about any medical conditions she may have had and what medication she was on to try and work out why she collapsed. 

"She kept falling asleep and I raised my voice for her to give me information so we could try to help her. 

"She was diabetic, I asked when she had last eaten which was in the airport in Paphos, I asked if I could check her sugar levels but she said she packed it in the suitcase as this had never happened before, the cabin crew came with a can of pop and a chocolate bar for her.

“I asked Mary if she had anything to eat or drink.

"She had two bottles of wine on the flight, so I said we need to check her sugars before you drink or eat anything, a passenger on the plane came to assist as he was diabetic, so he lent us his equipment. 

"I checked her blood, and it was 26 which is dangerously high, if she had eaten that chocolate bar or drank the pop things would have been a lot worse.

"She luckily had an emergency insulin pen and was given 10mls to reverse her sugars.

“Sometimes it's easy just to think when someone is very poorly with diabetes that the sugar levels are low but, on this occasion, if she had drank or eaten, it would have been a different story.”

A spokesperson from Jet2 said: “The comfort, safety and well-being of our customers is always our number one priority, and our highly trained team are equipped to handle a range of medical situations.

“We can confirm that our cabin crew provided assistance onboard flight LS516 from Paphos to Newcastle International and were thanked for their help and support by customers when disembarking.

“We would also like to note that the drink and snacks provided were requested by the passenger’s partner and not with the intention of treating the customer.

“We would like to express our thanks to Ms Wilson for her assistance onboard.”

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