A TEENAGER has hit out at a travel company after they threatened to leave her in Greece because of an allergy to strawberries.

Chloe Fitzpatrick and her boyfriend Matthew Higson were returning home from Zakynthos to Manchester on September 20 aboard the Thomas Cook MT119 flight.

The 19-year-old has a severe airborne allergy to all strawberry products and if she comes in contact with them she can have an anaphylactic reaction.

As she had always done, Chloe - originally from Oswaldtwistle, spoke to the cabin crew about her allergies and looked through the menu to tell them of potential risks to her and they agreed to make announcements to make holiday-makers aware.

Minutes later, one of the cabin crew managers said she was not ‘comfortable having someone with her condition on the flight’.

The former Mount Carmel student said: “She said you will have to sort out an alternative way home.

“She then listed times where other passengers who had been refused to fly due to their allergies naming a specific incident with Bombay Sapphire the previous week.

“She said the pilot had agreed with her and was not comfortable having that passenger on board.

“I was then told it was an unfair expectation to refuse other passengers full access to the onboard menu.”

However, Chloe was told it would affect the other passengers ‘flying experience’ and she was not going to cater for one person at the expense of the other 200.

She added: “ My boyfriend then said she was implying that profit was more important than my safety but she replied it was not just about profit it is about our customer’s flying experience.”

Chloe, who lives in Bolton-By-Bowland became more upset by the incident.

She said: “The manager asked if she could serve the products just to customers at the front of the plane, she said surely if someone in row one has a drink then if I was in row 34 I would not be affected.

“She appeared to have no understanding of the concept of an airborne anaphylactic allergy.

“I felt belittled and patronised and embarrassed about my condition.”

The cabin crew removed the products from sale but there was more embarassment as the announcement was made in front of her and she felt like ‘passengers were looking at her’ and was ‘humiliated’.

Chloe was diagnosed with the condition at 10 months old and the trip was her first without her parents and her daily battle with the allergy is featured in a film ‘A day in the life of Chloe’ which is being shown in schools across Lancashire to raise awareness about anaphylaxis.

She said that she had followed the same routine that her parents always put in place which was to advise of allergies and said which products put her at risk of a reaction,

She added: “The crew were both understanding and supportive.”

She said: “I feel very badly let down by Thomas Cook and find it difficult to comprehend the difference in attitude of the cabin crew on our way to Zakynthos compared to the way I was treated on the return flight home. On our outbound flight the cabin crew were so understanding and could not have done more for me.

“They ensured that my safety was of paramount importance to them and nothing was too much trouble.

“It has led me to believe that it is actually an individual’s behaviour rather than the company that has left me feeling let down and extremely upset. I hope lessons can be learnt from my experience and that they will review their cabin crew training and the way they treat passengers with allergies.

“I truly hope that no other person with anaphylaxis will ever experience such humiliating and embarrassing treatment on board one of their flights.”

A Thomas Cook Airlines spokesperson said: “The safety of our customers and crew is always our first priority. When a customer lets us know that they have an allergy, the cabin manager will share the information with the captain and crew as part of their pre-flight briefing to decide on the best course of action, based on the severity of the allergy.

“On speaking with both Ms Fitzpatrick and the captain, the cabin manager made an announcement to all customers asking them to refrain from opening products containing strawberries that they may have brought on board, and advised that no products containing strawberries would be sold on the flight.”