A British woman critically injured on the Singapore Airlines flight has been left paralysed from the waist down, her husband revealed today.
Dance teacher Kerry Jordan has suffered a ‘life changing injury’ after being catapulted into the overhead lockers after the Boeing 777 hit extreme turbulence on its flight from London.
She is recovering at Bangkok’s Samittivej Srinakarin Hospital where she is expected to remain for several weeks having undergone emergency surgery.
Jordan, who is orginally from Appledore in Devon, was on her way home to Adelaide in Australia with her husband Keith Davis after a holiday in the UK.
She is a permanent resident of Australia having emigrated as a child.
Dance teacher Kerry Jordan has suffered a ‘life changing injury’ after being catapulted into the overhead lockers. She is pictured right with husband Keith Davis
Davis, 59, revealed that his wife ‘is not in a great space’ and said as the plane suddenly dropped altitude she was thrown from her seat
The interior of Singapore Airline flight SG321 is pictured after an emergency landing at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Thailand, May 21
Davis, 59, revealed that his wife ‘is not in a great space’ and said as the plane suddenly dropped altitude she was thrown from her seat into a overhead locker and landed in the aisle where she remained until the flight diverted to Bangkok.
‘She had emergency surgery as soon as we were admitted and it remains that she has no sensation from the waist down, so its pretty life changing,’ said Davis from his hospital bed.
His wife is one of 22 people who suffered spinal injuries during the incident. Ten British passengers – the largest number – remain hospitalised.
Among them is the widow of Geoff Kitchen, a former theatre director who was the only fatality on the plane.
The 73 year old is believed to have suffered a heart attack.
The Kitchens, from Thornbury, Gloucestershire, were sitting in the row ahead of Mr Davis and his wife.
Describing the scene of mayhem and terror, Mr Davis said: ‘We just fell into a huge hole and we’re free falling and of course straight up into the ceiling.
Kerry is recovering at Bangkok’s Samittivej Srinakarin Hospital where she is expected to remain for several weeks having undergone emergency surgery
‘I went headfirst. We were in the middle section so I was dead centre and I went up through the vent and masks and things. Unfortunately for Kerry she hit the luggage doors.
‘Instead of landing back in the seat are, she fell flat into the aisle and from that moment, she didn’t move. That’s where she remained for the rest of the flight.
‘It horrifying. I remember I leant over her and she was breathing. She was able to communicate, she was very weak.
Geoff Kitchen, 73, suffered a suspected heart attack on the plane and ultimately died
‘I remember feeling her breath, talking and I realised I was dripping blood into her dress. I thought, Oh, I’m going to ruin her dress.’
Davis was pictured being wheeled into a hospital coffee shop in a green gown and a large white bandage swathed across his head. He had a black eye and swelling on his cheek.
Mr Davis said it would be a matter of weeks before his wife could fly back to their home in Australia with the airline arranging for their daughter to fly out to Bangkok.
His wife is a former head of dance at Scotch College in Adelaide.
Her husband has previously said his wife was born in the UK and emigrated to Australia as a child.
Thai authorities said 40 people from the flight remain in hospital, with 22 being treated for spinal injuries.
Six patients are also being treated for skull and brain injuries.
An injured person is seen being carried off the plane in a stretcher after the incident
Adinun Kittiratanapaibool, Director of Bangkok’s Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, said the oldest patient at the hospital is 83-years-old and the youngest is a two-year-old child who suffered a concussion.
Hospital authorities in Bangkok said three British passengers from the Singapore flight have been discharged overnight.
Seven remain hospitalised and undergoing treatment, including the widow of Geoff Kitchen.
Hospital chiefs said those with spinal injuries will remain in hospital for several weeks.
