Emirates responds after Love Island’s Jack Fowler ‘almost dies’ on plane following severe allergic reaction
Topics: Love Island, Travel, News, Celebrity, Health
Kya Buller
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@_jackfowler_
Topics: Love Island, Travel, News, Celebrity, Health
Emirates has spoken out after Jack Fowler suffered a severe allergic reaction to nuts onboard one of its flights.
The 28-year-old Love Island star was flying to Dubai when he says he was served an in-flight meal containing nuts despite being reassured there were no nuts in the food.
He later shared a series of images and footage from his traumatic experience on the flight.
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Fowler wrote on Instagram: "Cant believe I’m having to post this. And I’m posting because people should be aware of the severity of how bad food allergies can be and the complete negligence from @emirates airline."
He went on to explain that after asking the airline staff twice if there were any nuts present in the in-flight meals, he was reassured there was not.
Fowler was given an option of chicken or fish, and opted for chicken.
He said: "Trusting my flight attendant I began to eat the chicken curry. Immediately my throat closed up and breathing became extremely difficult."
According to Fowler, the flight attendants continued to reiterate there were no nuts present until his friend 'demanded' to see the menu and discovered the dish was 'Cashew Nut Chicken Curry'.
He continued: "This left me with the real possibility of dying on the plane as I knew I needed emergency treatment immediately. I was given five tanks of Oxygen, as well as administering my Adrenaline Pen (Epi Pen).
"I told the flight supervisor 'If you don’t land this plane soon, I will die on this plane'. This then lead to the pilot speeding up the journey."
Fowler was rushed to Dubai's Airport Hospital for treatment.
He then addressed Emirates directly, adding: "@emirates it is not good enough. I’m lucky to be able to have a platform to make as many people aware of your complete negligence.
"You are responsible for your passengers and their safety. Giving a passenger food which they’ve stated TWICE will cause extreme harm is unacceptable.
"I hope all airlines and cabin crew who come across this post take note. We board your flights and trust the cabin crew to aid us in a safe flight. Take more care."
Fowler appeared on Good Morning Britain today (19 June), stating: "I really honestly trusted them and started to eat what I thought was something safe and it actually contains the one thing that I really couldn’t have and that was cashew nuts, that is the worst nut for me.
“Straight away I knew. My throat was closing up, I couldn’t breathe and it was extremely scary for me.”
He added: "I think people need to really understand the severity of allergies and I think there’s a lot of ignorance in some people."
Emirates has since released a statement, saying: "We are sorry to hear of Mr Fowler's experience and our teams on ground are providing him with all possible assistance. The safety and health of our customers is taken very seriously.
"While Emirates aims to cater to customers with specific needs by offering a variety of special meals that cover medical, dietary, and religious requirements, we cannot guarantee a nut-free inflight environment.
"We urge travellers with dietary or other medical requirements to check our website and consult their doctor before travel."