Woman (80) sues over airport fall that ruined ‘trip of a lifetime’

A woman who claims she hurt her knee after falling over baggage at Dublin Airport before flying out to Vietnam has sued for damages.

Catherine Gallagher (80) told the High Court that, two days into her holiday in April 2014, she could not walk and an x-ray at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh city showed a fracture.

Instead of going on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, she had to be transferred by air ambulance to Bangkok, Thailand where she spent 10 days in a hospital undergoing an operation to fix a fracture above her left knee replacement. She was then transferred back to Dublin in another air ambulance.

Ms Gallagher, who travelled to Vietnam with a female friend for a two week tour involving a group, said she had saved up for the €2,500 trip of a lifetime.

“I was fascinated by Vietnam. I always wanted to go there,” she said.

She said she was pushed around in a wheelchair for the first two days and then could not walk and was taken to hospital.

Ms Gallagher, from Bray, Co Wicklow, has sued Dublin Airport Authority plc, which manages Dublin Airport, as a result of the fall on April 14th, 2014 at Terminal Two as she went through a security check.

She had been scanned after the metal detector sounded as she went through it and was standing to the side when, she claims, she fell over baggage on the floor.

Trip hazards

Ms Gallagher alleges failure to prevent other passengers creating trip hazards during security screening of passengers and failure to ensure a safe system for the security screening of passengers transiting the terminal.

She claims she experienced severe disruption in her subsequent travel plans and in her way of life as she was immobilised for about six months and was unable to visit her grandchildren in the US.

The DAA denies the claims and pleads Ms Gallagher failed to pay any, or any adequate, attention to what was going on about her and failed to notice the items on the floor.

In evidence, Ms Gallagher told Mr Justice Michael Hanna she fell on her left knee. “I just know I fell over things on the floor. I thought I was OK and in 24 hours I would be grand.”

She said she was asked by first aid at the airport if she wanted to continue with her travel plans and she opted to travel as she thought she was okay. She was also given a wheelchair for her outward flight.

During a night stopover in Dubai, she bought a gel to rub on her leg but at Ho Chi Minh city she had to have a wheelchair, she said.

Before the accident, she was very active, she said. “I had a lot of plans. I intended to climb Croagh Patrick and to go to Lourdes with one of my friends. I never used my bus pass until this accident. I always walked everywhere.”

The case continues on Wednesday.