How to send an Alzheimer's patient back to the U.K.? - From Bangkok

[Furioso]

He's 83 years old. Lives alone. He has no relatives except for a niece 600KM from Heathrow. 

He's got Alzheimer's pretty bad and obviously deteriorating every day. 

He's got 3 or 4 friends they want to send him back to U.K. on a plane. Alone. 

I spoke up and said "someone has to escort him back to the U.K. Period. 

As far as I know they're all similar age retirees, they say they're too busy but it really looks to me like nobody wants to step up. I don't know the guy but I said I'd do it but they said no. They're trying to arrange everything for his solo flight to U.K. but I'm thinking someone needs to escort him back. 

Maybe I'm wrong? 

[Ralf001]

Surely solo would have to be co-ordinated with airport staff (on both ends) with the niece confirmed to collect.

[Jenkins9039]

Typical of the boomer age group (selfishness).

 

Yeah he needs someone to fly with him (hand him over) and also have someone there to take him in...

 

Niece probably doesn't want the responsibility, would be advisable to speak with the state (social careers) to take him once he arrives.

[Furioso]

2 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Surely solo would have to be co-ordinated with airport staff (on both ends) with the niece confirmed to collect.

They haven't been able to contact her..I dont' know all the details but I think the plan is for him to get off the plane at Heathrow and catch a cab to hospital. No airport staff involved either. Flight is scheduled for first week of March. 

[Tropicalevo]

6 minutes ago, Furioso said:

He's 83 years old. Lives alone. He has no relatives except for a niece 600KM from Heathrow. 

He's got Alzheimer's pretty bad and obviously deteriorating every day. 

He's got 3 or 4 friends they want to send him back to U.K. on a plane. Alone. 

I spoke up and said "someone has to escort him back to the U.K. Period. 

As far as I know they're all similar age retirees, they say they're too busy but it really looks to me like nobody wants to step up. I don't know the guy but I said I'd do it but they said no. They're trying to arrange everything for his solo flight to U.K. but I'm thinking someone needs to escort him back. 

Maybe I'm wrong? 

 

I agree with you. He should be escorted.

What if halfway through the flight he forgets where he is and tries to open the plane door.

[Furioso]

1 minute ago, Jenkins9039 said:

Typical of the boomer age group (selfishness).

 

Yeah he needs someone to fly with him (hand him over) and also have someone there to take him in...

 

Niece probably doesn't want the responsibility, would be advisable to speak with the state (social careers) to take him once he arrives.

you're right about the selfishness!

[Furioso]

Just now, Tropicalevo said:

 

I agree with you. He should be escorted.

What if halfway through the flight he forgets where he is and tries to open the plane door.

I actually said this to one of the guys 30 minutes ago! He said he's very docile, he'll have all the paperwork on him blah blah blah. 

[sidjameson]

I imagine Heathrow would have a protocol in place. Maybe contact them. 

 

Thailand has care homes starting at 25k a month.  Wouldn't that be better?

[scubascuba3]

He should have sorted this prior to him getting into that state, see if the embassy are any use at all, unlikely

[save the frogs]

Maybe raise some funds on GoFundMe and pay a Thai person to accompany him.

Or maybe not enough time to raise funds? 

Sorry, maybe a bad idea. 

 

[Ralf001]

17 minutes ago, Furioso said:

They haven't been able to contact her..I dont' know all the details but I think the plan is for him to get off the plane at Heathrow and catch a cab to hospital. No airport staff involved either. Flight is scheduled for first week of March. 

 

Yeah thats gunna turn to excrement on a grand scale !

 

I put my mother in a care home with advanced alheimers... it was pretty bad at the end.

 

[Furioso]

8 minutes ago, sidjameson said:

I imagine Heathrow would have a protocol in place. Maybe contact them. 

 

Thailand has care homes starting at 25k a month.  Wouldn't that be better?

I will ask them about this. Thanks!

[Ralf001]

3 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

Maybe raise some funds on GoFundMe

 

 

He's a brit.... so yeah !

[save the frogs]

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[Ralf001]

Just now, save the frogs said:

what if in the worst case scenario he dies somehow on the way back.

who is liable? OP for putting him on a plane unattended? 

 

 

How would I know ?

[save the frogs]

1 minute ago, Ralf001 said:

 

How would I know ?

I thought you had a law degree.

 

[howerde]

If his Alzheimer's is bad. he is going to need a fit to fly certificate at the very least and may well need a qualified medical person as escort, depending how bad it is, the airline may refuse to carry him.

I have seen this a few times and as usual it is the families abroad that shoulder the burden

[Ralf001]

2 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

I thought you had a law degree.

 

Nope... Engineer.

[Furioso]

1 minute ago, howerde said:

If his Alzheimer's is bad. he is going to need a fit to fly certificate at the very least and may well need a qualified medical person as escort, depending how bad it is, the airline may refuse to carry him.

I have seen this a few times and as usual it is the families abroad that shoulder the burden

From the stories I hear it's pretty bad. They're in a lot of denial he has no family except for the niece who he may not have seen in decades. I don't have all the details but to me it's pretty straight forward. A friend has Alzheimers he needs to be taken care of. Dumping him on a plane by himself is ridiculous. 

[motdaeng]

was he diagnosed with alzheimer's here in thailand? there are many forms of dementia, including alzheimer's. some dementia patients are peaceful, while others can be confrontational and may become aggressive. if he is only forgetful, this can be arranged in advance with the airline by having an escort both at departure and arrival.

 

it seems there are still many open questions, but the best solution is definitely for someone he knows to accompany him on the journey. i did this eight years ago with a person suffering from dementia. it was not easy and extremely exhausting, but it was the right decision to accompany this person ...

[simon43]

38 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

I agree with you. He should be escorted.

What if halfway through the flight he forgets where he is and tries to open the plane door.

You can't open doors once the plane is pressurised 🙂

 

Also, no airline would accept a dementia/alzheimer elderly person to travel alone.

 

Anyway, yonks ago I met a Thai lady who was employed by the British embassy to escort elderly Brits back on planes to the UK.  She would get a few days of holiday in the UK each time.  So... even though the embassy has a very bad reputation for looking after their citizens, they may still have this arrangement for dementia Brits etc.  No harm in asking them

[Furioso]

6 minutes ago, motdaeng said:

was he diagnosed with alzheimer's here in thailand? there are many forms of dementia, including alzheimer's. some dementia patients are peaceful, while others can be confrontational and may become aggressive. if he is only forgetful, this can be arranged in advance with the airline by having an escort both at departure and arrival.

 

it seems there are still many open questions, but the best solution is definitely for someone he knows to accompany him on the journey. i did this eight years ago with a person suffering from dementia. it was not easy and extremely exhausting, but it was the right decision to accompany this person ...

I have a feeling in the end they'll do the right thing..especially since I don't think they can put him on a plane without someone noticing he's impaired. Plus I stuck my nose into this I've already made one of the friends mad at me but this is something worth fighting for. I've never met the 83 year old guy, I've just heard the stories, mostly on how forgetful he is. 

[Sandboxer]

Just put him on a cargo ship as a paying pax in a crew berth. It's not like he'll care that it takes weeks because he won't even know, and most of the vessels areas are restricted (locked) so at most he'll be able to wander around the common areas in amazement how big the Hindenburg is!^^^

[OJAS]

49 minutes ago, sidjameson said:

I imagine Heathrow would have a protocol in place. Maybe contact them. 

 

40 minutes ago, Furioso said:

I will ask them about this. Thanks!

 

These people might be worthwhile contacting:

 

http://heathrowtravelcare.co.uk/

 

[Furioso]

1 hour ago, motdaeng said:

was he diagnosed with alzheimer's here in thailand? there are many forms of dementia, including alzheimer's. some dementia patients are peaceful, while others can be confrontational and may become aggressive. if he is only forgetful, this can be arranged in advance with the airline by having an escort both at departure and arrival.

 

it seems there are still many open questions, but the best solution is definitely for someone he knows to accompany him on the journey. i did this eight years ago with a person suffering from dementia. it was not easy and extremely exhausting, but it was the right decision to accompany this person ...

You're a hero for helping that person and I'm not surprised it's exhausting. I think in this case they'll figure out, or be forced, to have someone accompany him on his flight back to the U.K.

 

Can you imagine they stick him on the plane and when he gets to Heathrow he has no idea where he is nor where to go? Nightmare. 

[Furioso]

1 hour ago, OJAS said:

 

 

These people might be worthwhile contacting:

 

http://heathrowtravelcare.co.uk/

 

Thanks, I'll forward this to the appropriate person. 

[simon43]

2 hours ago, Sandboxer said:

Just put him on a cargo ship as a paying pax in a crew berth. It's not like he'll care that it takes weeks because he won't even know, and most of the vessels areas are restricted (locked) so at most he'll be able to wander around the common areas in amazement how big the Hindenburg is!^^^

Well in that case, drive him around Thailand for 12 hours, bring him back to his house and tell him that there's a heat wave in Brighton.....

[Moonlover]

From my own perspective, having been away from the UK for over 20 years and being almost 80, the thought of being sent back there, in my dotage horrifies me!

 

There has to be a better solution than sticking this poor old guy on a Heathrow bound flight to a totally uncertain future.

 

And there is one. Watch the video in the attached link. This solution has to be a better way.

 

https://www.aljazeera.com/program/101-east/2020/5/1/thailands-last-resort

[Liverpool Lou]

As soon as the airline staff see his condition he will likely be refused boarding if he has no one to take care of him during the flight.   The cabin crew, even if they wanted to, are not permitted to take on that responsibility.

[Furioso]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

As soon as the airline staff see his condition he will likely be refused boarding if he has no one to take care of him during the flight.   The cabin crew, even if they wanted to, are not permitted to take on that responsibility.

he's supposed to leave early March and his passport expires 15 March