Ten seconds that will scar you forever

Ten seconds that will scar you forever

Is 'devastation' too strong a word? Decide for yourself as you read this tale of woe.

March 6, 2011 2:42 by Samuel Potter

Kipp is in a state of shock at a story we came across in Emirates 24-7. We are about to share the details of the story with you, so we suggest you take a seat, and maybe even pour yourself a strong drink. What? We meant coffee, of course.

Ready? Okay, but just remember: everything is going to be fine. Please try to stay calm.

Our story begins on a Virgin Blue aeroplane, traveling from Fiji to Sydney. On board that ill fated jet were a family – a woman, her husband, and their 17 month old son.

Kipp can hardly bring itself to continue…

At some point during the flight, apparently as part of a peek-a-boo game, a flight attendant picked up the young boy and shut him in the overhead compartment. For 10 seconds.

“My husband was standing one metre behind my son when the air steward picked him up and placed him in the overhead compartment,” the woman told an Australian paper.

“I stood up and there were people laughing and then I said ‘Get my son out of there now’. I was devastated. I was absolutely devastated.

“I was crying. My husband was in shock. For days on end I was crying.”

Now, there are some people who would say that anybody who is ‘devastated’ about an admittedly ill-thought out but ultimately utterly harmless act, and who cries ‘for days on end’ about a brief bit of fun that went wrong, is either a liar or a… well, a bit of a drama queen.

But not Kipp. Having once been locked in the airing cupboard for 10 minutes in a hide-and-seek game gone tragically wrong as a child, we can only wince as we think of the horror that unfolded on that cursed plane. We still remember the feeling of those soft, clean, warm towels as we waited for Dad to fetch a screw driver, and we sympathize.

We can only hope that the flight attendant losing his livelihood and the airline’s groveling (translating into free flights) can help the woman get over her complete devastation, though we are sure it could take years. Until then, the tears will keep coming we guess.

The woman says the boy has seen various specialists since the incident after suffering from anxiety and withdrawal. Here he is, by the way, and you can see the anxiety and withdrawal etched into his very soul.