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Vilma Soltesz stranded in Hungary with her husband Janos Soltesz

Airlines settle $6m lawsuit in death of 407lb woman

NEW YORK, September 9, 2014

The husband of a woman from the Bronx, US, who died abroad after she was allegedly barred from flying back to the US for being too fat, has settled his $6 million lawsuit against the airlines.

Janos Soltesz, 57, quietly settled her wrongful death suit against Delta, KLM Royal Dutch and Lufthansa airlines in late August, Daily News said quoting court documents.

The suit accused the airlines of having sent his 407 lb (184.6 kg) wife Vilma "on a debilitating 'wild goose chase' from airline to airline, airport to home, and country to country" that caused her to lose her life in October 2012.

In addition to morbid obesity, Vilma, 56, had a partially amputated leg that left her wheelchair bound, court papers said.

The suit said the couple flew to their native Hungary in September 2012 without issue — they bought Vilma two tickets for each leg of the flight — but were unceremoniously bounced between three separate airlines in two different countries when they tried to get Vilma home to see her doctor in the US.

Vilma began feeling sick on October 2, but a doctor in Hungary cleared her to fly home as scheduled on October 15.

Her own doctor in New York told her she should come in to his office as soon as she got back so he could "adjust her medication or prescribe new medication," the suit says.

She never made it.

The court action charged the airlines with causing her death, saying they'd shown "a willful, wanton and reckless disregard" for Vilma's safety by having "intentionally refused to make the proper accommodations for her."

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.




Tags: Hungary | Obese |

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