A grieving family is calling for answers over the way a grandmother was treated after she began gasping for breath and then died suddenly on board a Qatar Airways flight – as eyewitnesses question the official version of events.
Sharon Gordon, 60, from Campbelltown in Sydney’s south-west, was traveling on flight QR908 from Doha last Friday evening AEST when she started gasping for breath halfway through the 14-hour journey.
She died a short time later. Qatar Airways issued a brief statement expressing their condolences and simply stating that CPR had been performed and that “unfortunately the lady could not be revived.”
Mrs Gordon’s grieving family are now preparing for the funeral and are mourning the ‘beautiful’ grandmother, likening her to an ‘angel’ who was kind and warm to everyone she knew.
Her partner Rob Bray hopes he can get a full and detailed account of what happened – after two witnesses came forward to claim the airline should have handled the situation betterand accused staff of wasting time at the crucial moments when they raised the alarm.
‘I’m not pointing fingers. “The poor thing might not have been able to be resuscitated after all, but no one knows now,” he said.
Mr Bray insisted to Daily Mail Australia that he and his family are not “angry, out for blood or money”.
Sharon Gordon, 60, from Campbelltown in Sydney’s south-west, was on flight QR908 from Doha when she started gasping for breath halfway through the 14-hour journey
Ms Gordon’s devastated partner Rob Bray is hopeful the Government can help get a full and detailed account of what happened
They just want to know the whole truth about Mrs. Gordon’s last moments.
Fellow passengers Francesca and Enrico told 7News they first alerted airline stewards after hearing Ms Gordon making a “weird noise.”
When the crew couldn’t wake her, the flight attendants provided her with an oxygen mask “but then just left,” the couple said.
About 20 minutes are then said to have passed before the cabin crew returned again, this time in an attempt to get Ms Gordon to go ‘limp’ from her seat.
Francesca believed that Mrs. Gordon was already ‘gone’ at this stage.
Only then, she said, did the crew make an announcement asking if there were doctors on board.
Mr Bray said: ‘I’m not jumping to conclusions… but I would like to know what really happened.’
Mrs Gordon was fit and healthy and had no known serious medical problems, Mr Bray said.
The couple spent most days FaceTiming while visiting her daughter and recently born granddaughter in London.
Mr Bray sought help from the Home Office and the Minister for Transport through his local member after the incident. Five days later, he still hasn’t heard from government officials.
He hopes the government can seek answers on behalf of him and the rest of Gordon’s family.
“The last time I spoke to her she was doing well,” Mr Bray said. ‘It came very suddenly. (I feel) very raw, very numb.”
Mr Bray hopes a coroner’s report will provide clarity on Ms Gordon’s cause of death, and that Qatar Airways will resolve discrepancies between their version of events and that of the eyewitness interviewed on television.
Mrs Gordon was a much-loved customer service station employee at Wynyard Station in central Sydney (pictured with colleagues)
“Until the coroner’s report, and until the government and the people who can fully investigate the matter do so, we won’t know.”
Mr Bray and his family are now planning Mrs Gordon’s funeral.
‘She is an absolutely beautiful person. She never said a bad word about anyone. And she loved her grandchildren.
‘There are many grandchildren who are now growing up without their grandmother. That’s the sad part.’
Her stepdaughter Jasmin Bray told Daily Mail Australia that Ms Gordon will be “remembered for her infectious laugh and great humour”.
“I will miss the motherly hugs when you need them most… (she) helped me become the woman I am today.
“All your grandchildren will miss you,” she added, describing Mrs. Gordon as an “angel.”
Qatar Airways previously said she ‘couldn’t be revived’ but a couple sitting in front of Mrs Gordon revealed ‘it didn’t feel like they (cabin crew) were doing enough’ when she started having breathing difficulties (stock image)
Mr Bray praised the courage of the witness who spoke out to question Qatar’s version of events.
Francesca and her husband said it took another half hour after the tragedy before passengers were moved into Mrs Gordon’s row and her body was moved back to the row of seats and covered with a blanket.
When the plane landed, everyone was told to remain seated while emergency services tended to the dead woman.
Francesca said the airline should have handled the situation better.
“They just left her there,” she said.
Mr Bray hopes more details will be revealed in the coming days and weeks, and that everyone can learn from the tragedy.
Daily Mail Australia has approached Qatar Airways with written questions.