A CHAMPION gymnast from Warrington suffered a life-threatening allergic reaction while onboard a plane from France – despite warning cabin crew repeatedly of her nut allergy.
Natasha Coates, 29, who is the number one female disability gymnast in the UK, has a severe airborne tree nut and peanut allergy.
This has caused her to avoid flying for the last 13 years due to being concerned for her safety on a plane if nuts are sold.
The Warrington-born athlete overcame this as she recently flew to Paris with her girlfriend to propose to her in Disneyland on Friday, May 24.
The magical trip, however, ended in a terrifying experience the next day, as Natasha suffered an allergic reaction to nuts on the Air France plane home.
Natasha warned staff of her allergy prior to boarding the plane, and also approached cabin crew to inform them of her medical condition.
She was reassured that no nuts would be sold onboard and thought the crew would announce this to other passengers on the plane.
No announcement was made by crew, who then proceeded to hand out almond biscuits to people on the plane for free.
“I started to feel a bit unwell. I felt hot and sick and gross, and I figured it had been a busy few days and I was tired,” said Natasha.
“Then they were handing out complimentary biscuits and they got to us, and I looked at the packet and they were almond biscuits.”
Natasha immediately flagged the issue to cabin crew, who proceeded to tell her they did not have any nuts in before checking the packet.
They then stopped handing the biscuits out to the remainder of the passengers but didn’t take any back.
“The damage was already done because the people who had been given the biscuits first had opened them,” she said.
“I started going into anaphylaxis, so they moved me to business class because it was quieter and asked for a doctor on board, but they were kind of panicking and flapping.”
Natasha used two of the four EpiPens she carries on her at all times and was concerned that she might die as a result of the allergic reaction.
“I felt horrific, and I was just thinking we’ve had this amazing trip and all this kind of magic and then getting engaged and thinking I’m not going to make it back,” she continued.
“I thought ‘my fiancé is going to return with a fiancé that’s not alive’.”
The plane had an emergency landing in Birmingham due to her condition, and Natasha was cared for by doctors.
Thankfully, Natasha was able to leave hospital a few hours later, but still cannot understand why the biscuits were handed out in the first place.
“It was such a short flight, the passengers could have quite honestly got over not having a biscuit,” she said.
“Their snack is not more important than my life.”
After returning home, Natasha launched a complaint with Air France and shared the response she received on X, formerly Twitter.
“I regret to learn that you were very disappointed with the unfavourable behaviour of our cabin staff on board for not giving the satisfactory services,” Air France’s response read.
“A sincere apology is offered for the discourtesy you encountered.
“Naturally you expect our staff to provide the best possible service, and it is inexcusable that you should have been confronted with anything else.
“Service, courtesy, a friendly disposition, and professional behaviour are the very minimum requirements that Air France demands of its staff, especially for those who work directly with the public.
“Unfortunately, in this instance we are sorry to note that your perception is to the contrary.”
Natasha was left hurt by the response, sharing further updates on her social media.
“Air France just emailed me, and I’m honestly hurt by their response,” her post read.
“’Discourtesy you encountered’ – they could have killed me. ‘Perception is to the contrary’ – it’s not really my perception when it’s what actually happened.”
Natasha now hopes that the regulations regarding the sale of products containing nuts can be reassessed to help ensure this doesn’t happen again.
“I was lucky to survive. What happens to the next person that it happens to?”
Air France was approached for comment but failed to respond before the deadline.
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