Little Leon, 11 months old, and his mother and father have been stranded in Spain due to the pilot strike. Now the little boy is in a hurry – he is about to run out of important medicines.
– We are desperate, Leon must have his medicine, says mother Emma Ramberg to the Swedish newspaper ExpressenMonday.
Her son suffers from severe asthma, and is treated with three different medications every day, according to the newspaper.
– Nobody takes responsibility
Emma Ramberg is an assistant nurse and the mother of little Leon.
– Leon receives anti-inflammatory medication and spray for asthma every day. He has been seriously ill since he was born. We have medicine left for three days, Ramberg told the newspaper on Monday.
DESPERATE: Emma Ramberg and Josef Abouhafs are Leon’s parents. Photo: Private.
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Emma Ramberg (29) and her partner Josef Abouhafs (30) have desperately tried to obtain information about the journey home.
– We panic, we have to go home for his medication. I have been in a telephone queue for SAS and the travel agency Seat 24 for many hours every day. We get no information, no one takes responsibility, she says.
According to Ramberg, SAS says that the family should contact the travel agency, while the travel agency says that SAS is responsible. Dagbladet talks to Ramberg on Wednesday afternoon.
– How have the last few days been?
– They have been very stressful and anxious. We have three children at home who are also worried and sad, she says.
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Long waiting time
The family was scheduled to take a flight from Alicante to Sweden on Tuesday night. The plane, however, was canceled.
– I feel so bad. I was on the phone from 11 to 17 on Monday. There is an hour of waiting in the travel agency’s chat and you are disconnected all the time, Ramberg told Expressen on Monday.
She and her partner Abouhafs have a total of three other children aged two to eight years waiting for them at home in Sweden. They have previously tried to find other flights to get home on time.
– We have tried to book a new flight ourselves. But it was only trips with several stopovers that take 45 hours. We can not travel that way with Leon and his breathing problems, says Ramberg.
After Expressen was in contact with the family, they have now been able to book new tickets with another airline. The flight from Spain to Sweden will take 15 hours. Now they hope that the plane leaves, so that they reach home before the medicine runs out.
– The medicines will end tomorrow, and that is when the plane will land, Ramberg tells Dagbladet.
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SAS apologizes
Knut Morten Johansen, information director at SAS, apologizes for the situation that has arisen for the family due to the strike. He says that SAS is working intensely to find alternative routes for stranded passengers.
– We regret that you are in this situation, he says.
Johansen says that SAS cannot comment on the specific case, but refers to the travel company and the local health service in the area.
– The most important thing is that the son receives help to obtain his medicine from the local health service that is available.
He admits that the situation is demanding now, and that it is not easy to find alternatives when a flight is canceled.
SORRY: SAS’s communications manager Knut Morten Johansen apologizes for the situation the family is in. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB Scanpix
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– SAS is responsible for finding aircraft home. That is our responsibility. But unfortunately, many options disappear due to the strike. It is the middle of summer, high pressure and there are not many departures to book about the trip to, says Johansen.
Seat 24 writes in an e-mail to Expressen that they have received information from SAS that the earliest opportunity to book the trip is on the morning of 18 July.
«The customer can then choose to accept July 18 or receive a refund. Only the airlines themselves can make exceptions or re-prioritize passengers for, for example, medical reasons. In this case, SAS must answer how they view the customer’s situation, the travel agency can not influence thise », they write in the email.
Now the family has nevertheless been given priority, and is scheduled to return home on Wednesday 13 July. It’s the same day that Leon runs out of medicine.
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