Mumbai, Mar 12 (Mumbai Mirror / HT/DW): Two days after a diabetic passenger suffering a hypoglycaemic attack was wrongly labelled a drunk and thrown out of T2, airport authorities have made a U-turn claiming the on-duty doctor never said he was inebriated.
Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) wrote to the passenger's anguished family on Tuesday, blaming the airline he was due to fly with for failing to provide medical care, and for dumping him outside T2 after he had fainted.
But even as MIAL issued the clarification to the family of John Valentine D'Souza, 52, it terminated the on-duty doctor's services and also ordered an inquiry into the incident. It did not reveal the grounds for termination.
D'Souza, 52, was due to board a Kuwait Airways flight to the Gulf Arab country early on Sunday when he suffered a hypoglycaemic attack and collapsed inside Mumbai's new international terminal.
Officials assumed the Mira Road resident was drunk and dumped him atop his luggage outside the terminal. D'Souza lay unattended for two hours before his family finally arrived following a phone call from officials and gave him some sweets, which restored his blood sugar level.
No alcohol in blood report:
The blood report of Dsouza showed there were “no detectable” traces of alcohol in his blood.
Family members of John D’Souza, the stranded passenger, have been claiming he suffered from severe hypoglycaemia — a medical condition in which the blood sugar in the body drops, leading to impairment of function, but the airport and airline assumed he was drunk.
The report from Bhaktivedant Hospital’s pathology department said although 10-milligram per decilitre (mg/dl) alcohol was found in the blood sample; it was below alcohol levels that could lead to an abnormality in the body.
“We have been saying from the beginning that his condition is because he is diabetic, but neither the airline nor airport operator believed us,” said Angello Pinto, D’Souza’s brother-in-law.
The airport operator, on Tuesday, contradicted the original statement. The Mumbai airport’s customer services department said the airport doctor “did not label the passenger drunk”.
“The passenger had volunteered the information, said he was stressed and had consumed alcohol earlier,” the response sent to the D’Souzas read.
While MIAL apologised and said they have taken up the issue with Kuwait Airways, there was no response from Kuwait Airways until the time of going to press.