Man allergic to ‘nearly everything’ spends trans-Atlantic flight trapped in bathroom: ‘The warning was given’
He put himself under outhouse arrest.
A Brazilian university professor who’s allergic to “nearly everything” spent an entire trans-Atlantic sequestered in the lavatory after experiencing a serious reaction to the inflight fish meal.
“I started to feel bad, to sweat, itch, turn red,” Lucas Gonçalves Dias, 32, told Globo 1 of his solitary can-finement, which occurred while he was flying from Brazil to Portugal with a layover in Paris.
Like a real-life Bubble Boy, Dias has the misfortune of being allergic to nearly everything, including peanuts, seafood, dairy, latex, pollen, chemicals with strong smells, animal hair, preservatives and much more.
If exposed to any of these allergens, the Colatina resident will experience a range of symptoms ranging from itchiness to anaphylaxis — a life-threatening immune response.
So, as a precaution before his flight, the professor had “informed the airline” of his condition, which they relayed to the rest of the flyers, Jam Press reported.
“When we got on the aircraft, the warning was given,” Dias recalled. “They didn’t mention my name, but they made it clear, I found it very respectful.”
The flight was going smoothly until the airline started serving fish for the inflight meal.
“The smell [of fish] spread very quickly,” recounted the imperiled passenger, who reportedly started to sweat, itch and turn red.
Hoping to avoid a full-blown attack, Dias rushed to the bathroom, since it’s the only place with a filter that “constantly changes air.”
The poor soul remained there until the flight touched down in Portugal, during which he read the instructions on the wall to pass the time.
Quarantining in an airplane bathroom like might seem like an overzealous measure relegated to dystopian pandemic thrillers.
However, not for Dias, who has been hospitalized over 20 times over the past eight years due to his condition.
One of his more harrowing episodes occurred after Dias was exposed to two allergens in a row.
A neighbor had reportedly been cooking shrimp, when the steam wafted up to his house in Vitória, causing him to go into anaphylactic shock.
When the paramedics arrived, he had already turned “blue,” per his testimony.
They subsequently transported the patient to the hospital, where he went into cardiorespiratory arrest and was eventually declared “dead” despite doctors’ best efforts at resuscitation.
Dias attributed his rapid deterioration to the fact that the medics were using a latex glove — another one of his allergic triggers.
The more they tried to revive Dias, the worse his condition got, too.
Interestingly enough, Dias isn’t the only traveler who got stuck in a plane’s bathroom recently. Another plane passenger was downgraded to the toilet seat when he got trapped inside the lavatory. After alerting flight attendants, he received a note asking him to stay calm.
“Sir we tried our best to open the door, however, we could not,” the letter read. “Do not panic. We are landing in a few minutes, so please close the commode lid and sit on it and secure yourself. As soon as the main door is open, an engineer will come.”
