California woman with cancer asked to leave flight in Hawaii

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California woman with cancer says she got kicked off a flight home from Hawaii after being told she could not fly without a doctor’s note.

Elizabeth Sedway, who has a type of blood cancer, said she and her family were asked to leave the Alaska Airlines flight to San Jose on Monday.

Sedway didn’t immediately return an email and a Facebook message from The Associated Press.

Sedway says she had told a flight attendant that she might need extra time to board because she sometimes feels weak. She wore a surgical mask in the boarding area.

An airline doctor questioned Sedway on the plane and then asked her and her family to leave. The family, including her husband and two sons, stayed in Hawaii overnight Monday. She says the delay caused her to miss her chemotherapy appointment.

Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said Tuesday that the “communication breakdown was on our part.” The company says it will refund the family’s airfare and reimburse any expenses.

The TV station reported that Sedway shot a video on the plane, which she posted on her Facebook page, where she is heard saying: “I’m being removed as if I’m a criminal or contagious because I have cancer. No note to fly. Does anybody wonder how I got to Hawaii?”

There are precautions that travelers with cancer should take, according to Cancer.net, the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s patient information website.

Some patients may not be able to fly because oxygen levels and air pressure changes at high altitudes can be dangerous. Changes in air pressure during a flight can also trigger swelling in the arms, legs or other parts of the body for people who have had lymph nodes removed.

The website also notes that people with cancer are at a higher risk of developing a blood clot after sitting through a long flight.