Copyright dailyrecord
A couple who both have a deadly nut allergy claim they were forced off their KLM flight after the airline refused to stop handing out free almond-topped cakes. Pretoria Drever had booked a two-night trip to Amsterdam, Netherlands , on October 25th to celebrate her fiance Rhonan Kelly's 25th birthday and their recent engagement. The 22-year-old says she informed the airline about the pair's severe allergy to nuts and peanuts on an online form, even arriving two hours early to Edinburgh airport so they could alert staff. After boarding the pair claim the airline refused to stop serving nut products, including a complimentary banana loaf topped with almonds, or issue a passenger announcement. They said they felt 'backed into a corner' after allegedly being given the choice to either exit the plane or take the risk to fly as there were EpiPens on board. Due to Pretoria's airborne allergy the 'humiliated' couple were forced to get off the plane and were 'gutted' to miss out on their £700 trip away. In one video clip a staff member is heard saying 'we're handing out food because people paid for a service and we're not going to take that away from them'. Rhonan then angrily responds, saying 'that's shocking, every other airline does it for us'. Believing they 'probably would've died' if they stayed on the flight the pair left and have vowed never to use the airline again and hope to see a complete nut ban on planes in the future. KLM said they 'regret' that Rhonan and Pretoria felt they had no choice but to leave the aircraft and that they 'understand their disappointment'. Rhonan, from Bellshill, Lanarkshire , Scotland, said: "I've never felt so discriminated against in all my life. "I honestly believe if we took off on that flight and they served the nuts they'd have taken an emergency landing in London or we'd have probably died on the flight. "When we book a holiday, we always double check with the airline [about our allergies]. "We asked if they'd put an announcement out to ask passengers not to open anything if they do have nuts in them and if they could not sell nuts on the plane. "Even the menu for that day was meant to be a cookie but when we got on the plane it was a banana loaf with almonds and nuts on it. "The manager on the plane was saying 'we're not going to stop selling [nut products]. We spoke to KLM Amsterdam and they've told us to go ahead with selling the nut products and they can't put an announcement out'. "They said if we don't like it, we have to basically not fly. They also said they were willing to take the chance if we wanted to stay on the plane as well because they had EpiPens. "But an EpiPen is only meant to put adrenaline in your body until an ambulance comes so that's not the answer when you're in the sky. "They said if we weren't happy with them selling nuts and didn't like the idea because there were tons of people on board, 190 of them and two of us, we had to get off the plane. "I was angry but it was very embarrassing. I felt as if I was backed into a corner because no matter what we said or did, we knew we weren't going to win. "The pilot said that basically they need to carry out a service for what everybody's paid for but I paid for it as well. I feel quite disgusted that an airline would do something like that." The 'gutted' pair were forced to miss out on their trip and are hoping to at least get a refund from the airline. Rhonan said: "I was absolutely gutted [to miss out on the trip] It's put me off using that airline again and it's actually putting the fear in me flying. "I have to build myself up to be able to go on a plane. I know the air is circulated and I know that's the chance I take. "But it's hard enough going on a plane with a nut allergy never mind going with a company who basically don't understand how severe that is. "In this day and age nuts should be banned altogether on planes. How many deaths does it take?" Car insurer Pretoria admitted she could go into anaphylactic shock within just two minutes of nut exposure because of her airborne allergy and the experience has put her off flying. Pretoria said: "Before we got on the flight, I had such bad anxiety about flying but I thought 'it's only an hour and a half'. But it was the worst experience ever. "It made me feel I was different to everyone else. It was humiliating getting off the plane and as if we were less than everyone else, as if we've paid less so we should be leaving. "But we obviously paid the same as every other passenger. It made me feel rubbish and unwanted. No-one even stuck us for us or said 'I won't eat that so they can fly'. "They were putting our safety at risk. There's two of us but 190 passengers so that's the whole air with nuts in it, it was horrible. "I'll never fly with them again and it's put me off flying ever again." A KLM spokesman said: "We are sorry to hear about the experience Mr. Kelly and Ms. Drever had prior to their flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam. "We understand how serious nut allergies can be and how distressing this situation must have been for them. "When a passenger informs our crew about a nut allergy, we can make an onboard announcement kindly requesting fellow passengers to keep nut-containing products sealed for the duration of the flight. "However, we cannot control or prohibit other passengers from consuming products that may contain nuts during the flight. "While we do our utmost to support passengers with allergies, we unfortunately cannot guarantee a nut-free environment on board. "We regret that Mr. Kelly and Ms. Drever felt they had no choice but to leave the aircraft, and we understand their disappointment."
