A Florida family has filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines, claiming that their disabled daughter’s life drastically changed when she was ejected from a wheelchair while boarding a flight, leaving her paralyzed from the neck down.
Gabrielle Assouline, 25, was boarding a Southwest flight at the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on February 25, traveling to Denver to visit her sister when she suffered the life-altering injuries.
Assouline, who at the age of 12, was diagnosed with a genetic disorder that made it difficult to walk long distances but otherwise allowed her to be highly functional, was using an electronic wheelchair to board the flight.
According to the lawsuit filed in March, Assouline was suddenly ejected from the wheelchair while going down the jet bridge.
The fall caused her to suffer a catastrophic spinal cord injury, the family attorney says, which left her paralyzed and on a ventilator.
Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Assouline, 25, suffered a spinal cord injured and was left paralyzed after being ejected from a wheelchair while boarding a Southwest flight on February 25 in Florida
‘She’s a prisoner in her own body,’ the family attorney Robert Solomon told CBS News. ‘I mean it’s, you see her, she’s with it, she understands, but she’s just literally sitting there fighting for her life. It really rips your heart out.’
‘That’s why I told the family, I said, “We’ll do everything in our power to get you guys justice.” Because there’s no plausible explanation that you drop your child off at an airport, you take them all the way to the gate, and then you get a phone call that your child fell and broke their neck.’
Gabby’s mother, Sandra, told Local10 that the last time she saw her daughter before the accident was when she dropped her off at the gate, which she was able to do with an escort pass.
‘The next thing I got was a call from BSO (saying) my daughter was involved in an accident and she broke her neck,’ Sandra Assouline said.
Gabby Assouline, who at the age of 12, was diagnosed with a genetic disorder that made it difficult to walk long distances but otherwise allowed her to be highly functional
Gabby’s mother, Sandra, said the last time she saw her daughter before the accident was when she dropped her off at the gate, and they took a selfie
The lawsuit claims that Southwest Airlines and its contractor, G2 Secure Staff, were ‘careless and failed to provide proper wheelchair assistance or instruction, failed to adequately train staff and failed to warn of hazards or dangers in the jet bridge.’
‘We believe something in that jet bridge caused her to be ejected,’ the family’s attorney added.
He told The Virginian-Pilot that the family doesn’t yet know when their daughter will be able to leave the hospital.
The family said they don’t yet know when their daughter will be able to leave the hospital
Gabby struggles to say ‘Hi, family’ while in the hospital after the wheelchair accident
A GoFundMe page has been created to help the family with medical expenses. More than $112,000 has been raised.
Gabby’s parents explained in the post that because of her paralysis, they are learning to read lips to communicate with her.
‘It’s unfathomable; I just think about it,’ Felix Assouline, Gabby’s father, said.
Gabby’s mother said on the fundraising site that despite her daughter’s genetic disorder, which is called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), it never stopped her from living her life.
‘Gaby is a fighter,’ Sandra Assouline wrote. ‘She is smart, passionate, hilarious, creative, and so resilient. She makes everyone around her better, simply by being her witty, brilliant self. She is taking online college classes, and is an advocate for making life more accessible for people with disabilities.’
A GoFundMe page has been created to help the Assouline family with medical expenses. More than $112,000 has been raised
Southwest Airlines released a statement to DailyMail.com on Tuesday in response to the lawsuit.
‘Southwest Airlines’ primary priority is the safety of our people and customers both on the ground and in the air. We have reviewed the customer’s initial account of her travel experience and have offered a response directly to those involved. Southwest will continue to work with the customer and other involved parties to investigate and address the facts and circumstances relating to her travel experience. Southwest has spent more than 51 years caring for our people and customers and remains committed to continuing to do so.’
In response to the airlines’ statement, the family’s attorney calls it ‘insensitive.’
‘It’s just insensitive, and it’s the boilerplate response we’ve been getting,’ Solomon said of Southwest’s statement. ‘Now we’re gonna fight. Just like their daughter’s fighting, that’s what they hired me to do.’
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