I almost managed to have a plane diverted on Monday evening.
I was sitting in my seat as the aircraft on a flight from Johannesburg to Istanbul was taxiing out of it berth, napping. As I awoke I suddenly felt very drowsy and nauseous. I leaned forward and said to my son that I was feeling unwell. I then leaned back, saying to hm: "I feel like I'm not here", and apparently passed out.
I sat with my eyes wide open, pupils dilating to the size if my irises. My wife slapped me in the face to bring me back, but I knew nothing of that. The poor woman must have gone through million shades of distress and fear at that moment (so I'm sure did my son).
It was the first time ever that I'm aware of that I passed out.
Next thing I knew the stewardess unbuckled my safety belt and leaned back my seat all the way. I thought the man behind me must be quite annoyed at that.
Then I was on the floor, drenched in sweat, with doctors around me, taking my blood pressure, pulse etc. They found hat my blood pressure was very low (usually it's high) I reassured them that I had no chest pains. At that point they gave the go-ahead for the pilot to take off.
I was put on a three-seater (people were shuffled around for that) to lie down. After a while I returned to my seat, because I felt guilty about inconveniencing people, and I was starting to feel better. But soon after I came close to passing out again. This time the doctors talked about diverting the plane to get me to a hospital.
The sensible view held and the plane wasn't diverted. I had a strong suspicion that the low blood pressure was probably brought on by a reaction to medication for restless leg syndrome on top of my daily hypertension pills, perhaps exacerbated by the air cabin pressure and the stress at check-in where things had been going poorly due to a bureaucratic issue I still don't quite understand and a screw-up by our travel agent.
The upshot was that I was told to recline in business class. They didn't give me any of the other benefits of business class, but I can see the virtue of sleeping in a bed on an intercontinental flight.
As for my health, by mid-morning I was feeling clear as rain again. I suspect the medication I had taken had worn off.
Still, when I get home, I think a thorough medical check-up is in order.
I was sitting in my seat as the aircraft on a flight from Johannesburg to Istanbul was taxiing out of it berth, napping. As I awoke I suddenly felt very drowsy and nauseous. I leaned forward and said to my son that I was feeling unwell. I then leaned back, saying to hm: "I feel like I'm not here", and apparently passed out.
I sat with my eyes wide open, pupils dilating to the size if my irises. My wife slapped me in the face to bring me back, but I knew nothing of that. The poor woman must have gone through million shades of distress and fear at that moment (so I'm sure did my son).
It was the first time ever that I'm aware of that I passed out.
Next thing I knew the stewardess unbuckled my safety belt and leaned back my seat all the way. I thought the man behind me must be quite annoyed at that.
Then I was on the floor, drenched in sweat, with doctors around me, taking my blood pressure, pulse etc. They found hat my blood pressure was very low (usually it's high) I reassured them that I had no chest pains. At that point they gave the go-ahead for the pilot to take off.
I was put on a three-seater (people were shuffled around for that) to lie down. After a while I returned to my seat, because I felt guilty about inconveniencing people, and I was starting to feel better. But soon after I came close to passing out again. This time the doctors talked about diverting the plane to get me to a hospital.
The sensible view held and the plane wasn't diverted. I had a strong suspicion that the low blood pressure was probably brought on by a reaction to medication for restless leg syndrome on top of my daily hypertension pills, perhaps exacerbated by the air cabin pressure and the stress at check-in where things had been going poorly due to a bureaucratic issue I still don't quite understand and a screw-up by our travel agent.
The upshot was that I was told to recline in business class. They didn't give me any of the other benefits of business class, but I can see the virtue of sleeping in a bed on an intercontinental flight.
As for my health, by mid-morning I was feeling clear as rain again. I suspect the medication I had taken had worn off.
Still, when I get home, I think a thorough medical check-up is in order.
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