Widower settles $6million lawsuit with airlines after... - PHOTO+VIDEO
Vilma Soltesz, who was 407lb, died at the couple's holiday home in Hungary after she was not allowed to fly back to New York City by Delta, KLM or Lufthansa in 2012.Her husband Janos Soltesz, 57, settled his wrongful death suit last month for an undisclosed amount. The suit said the couple were sent on a 'wild goose chase' across Europe in October 2012 by the airlines, which ultimately caused Mrs Soltesz's death, according to the New York Daily News.Morbidly-obese Mrs Soltesz was also wheelchair-bound by an amputated leg and suffered from diabetes and kidney disease.She was found dead at the age of 56 at her vacation home in Hungary in October 2012, days after several aircraft crews repeatedly failed to accommodate her size despite telling her they could do so, according to the lawsuit which was filed in federal court in Manhattan last October. The couple left their Bronx home in September 2012 on a Delta Air Lines plane, securing two seats for Vilma and one for her husband. The couple arrived safely in Budapest on a vacation, according to the lawsuit.By October 2, 2012, Vilma Soltesz sought treatment at a hospital in Hungary when she fell ill. She was released and told she could fly home but to see her doctor immediately upon her arrival.The pair tried to leave Budapest two weeks later on a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight, with seats similar to what they had on their flight from the United States, according to the suit.But a captain told them to disembark after Mrs Soltesz struggled to maneuver from her wheelchair into her assigned seats, the lawsuit says.After waiting in a Budapest airport for more than five hours, the couple drove to Prague to catch a Delta flight they were assured could accommodate them. But Delta did not have an adequate wheelchair to transport Vilma Soltesz to her seat, the suit added.'The Delta flight coordinator told Janos and Vilma that Delta ''did not have access to a skylift'' to get Vilma onto the aircraft from the rear, and that there was nothing more Delta could do for them,' the lawsuit stated.Later, on October 22, as several medics and firefighters helped her board a Lufthansa flight, the captain told the couple they had to disembark because 'other passengers need to catch a connecting flight and cannot be delayed further,' the lawsuit says.'Exhausted and feeling ill,' Vilma Soltesz went to bed after the couple drove back to their vacation home in Veszprem, Hungary, the lawsuit says.On October 24, Janos found her dead - nine days after she was supposed to have seen her doctor in New York. (dailymail.co.uk)Bakudaily.Az