Aussie’s hope after ‘carnage’ on flight
A victim of the fatal turbulence experienced on the Singapore Airlines flight is calling for he and his wife to be medically evacuated, with the couple currently stuck in a Bangkok hospital.
Australian man Keith Davis, and his wife Kerry Jordan had finished their holiday in the UK, and were on the horror London to Singapore SQ321 flight when the plane plunged 10 hours into the flight due to severe turbulence.
While the Adelaide man has been hospitalised for “superficial lacerations” and a “hell of a lot of swelling and bruising”, while his wife faces a “severe spinal injury” and can’t feel any sensation from her waist down.
The couple have both been moved to Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, with up to 12 Australians currently hospitalised in Thailand.
“It’s a hell of a shock. Absolute shock. You just don’t expect this,” he said, appearing on Today.
“I mean, these things happen. But who expects this?”
Mr Davis said Ms Jordan had recently received emergency surgery and was now “holding”.
Luckily, she remains in a conscious state, Mr Davis said.
“She’s been conscious all the way through, which is a blessing.
“She doesn’t have a brain injury, she’s got all of her wits about her. She’s strong and we just want to get home.”
Speaking about the flight, he described it as “absolute carnage,” with the turbulence coming on without warning.
“We just fell into a free fall zone … and before we knew it, we’re on the ceiling, and then, bang, we’re on the ground,” he said.
Speaking about his wife, Mr Davis said: “She fell into the aisle, she didn’t move from then on”.
Mr Davis is one of 211 passengers, plus 18 crew on-board the Boeing 777-300 flight, with 73-year-old British man Geoff Kitchen dying in the incident.
Reuters reports 20 people remain in intensive care in the Thai capital, including six Britons, six Malaysians, three Australians, two Singaporeans and one person each from Hong Kong, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
Mr Davies’ Linkedin profile lists him as a team leader for projects at the City of Onkaparinga local council, which covers a portion of Adelaide’s outer south from Morphett Vale through to Sellicks Beach.
Onkaparinga Councillor Marion Themeliotis, representing the Thalassa Ward, expressed her condolences to the council staffer on social media.
“Sending my thoughts and a speedy recovery and return home of council staffer Keith and wife Kerry,” she said.
Before Onkaparinga, Mr Davies worked in leadership positions for the City of Adelaide, City of Unley and City of Playford councils.
