The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Cancer patient and blogger hits out at travel firm’s refund refusal.
Etihad Airways refuses to give back flight costs after medical drama
A cancer patient has slammed a travel firm after it refused to refund a deposit for her “dream trip” to Thailand when she was forced to cancel because of the disease’s return.
Medics had given Fi Munro the goahead to book flights but just hours after doing so she was rushed to hospital.
Doctors drained more than two litres of fluid from the 32-year-old’s lungs and tests confirmed ovarian cancer had spread to her lungs.
She has been told that she will never be able to fly again but despite a letter from her oncologist, Etihad Airways said they will not give her money back.
Fi said she was “disappointed” by the airline’s reaction and called for them to show some compassion.
“I think they are being a bit insensitive,” she said.
“I was diagnosed with stage four cancer in January 2016 but have been in remission since August 2016. My health has been pretty stable.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Thailand and I was putting it off because I was nervous of my cancer coming back. In October I had a scan and was given the go-ahead to go.
“A couple of weeks ago I went for a run in the morning, I was feeling great and I booked it. But that night I got chest pain. I have quite a high pain threshold so I knew I had something big going on in my body.
“A&E did a chest x-ray and there was 2.5 litres of fluid on my right lung, so I was admitted.”
Fi, who lives in Errol, said she and her husband Ewan planned to buy travel insurance after receiving confirmation of their flights but were prevented from doing so by the dash to hospital.
“It’s sod’s law that I booked the holiday the same day I was admitted,” she said.
“The airline came back and said they never refund flights, regardless of the circumstances.
“I wouldn’t have booked a holiday if I thought there was any risk of not going. If anything, I put it off until I felt well enough but this came out of the blue,” she added.
“I was a bit upset because it was £1,000, which is nothing to a big company but is a lot to us. They should use some discretion.”
Etihad Airways has been approached for comment.