Written by Karim Shamsi-Basha for NJ Advance Media and NJ.com. updated June 8, 2022
When Carlos Pacheco, Jamie Greene and their three children visited Aruba last month, they expected a typical family vacation — nothing like the nightmare that caused two members to be stranded in the Caribbean for nearly a month.
On May 17, as the family was attempting to board their return flight from Aruba to Newark, their 15-year-old son Elijah, who has autism, experienced a sensory episode.
“We had gone on many vacations driving, and Elijah had never had any issues,” Pacheco told NJ Advance Media Monday. “We flew to Disney last year, and he enjoyed the plane ride and even the rollercoasters there. Nothing seemed to startle him, so we felt it was safe to go to Aruba.”
When the family began to board the United Airlines plane, Elijah stopped at the doorway and began to scream “toilet,” his way of saying something was wrong.
“I gave him gentle nudge and we made it to our seats, then he lost control. He refused to sit, and Jamie and I had to hold him down. Something caused him to be overwhelmed, and he began to hit (Greene) and me and continued screaming,” Pacheco said.
A flight attendant informed the parents that the captain had requested them to return to the gate. Elijah’s doctors in the United States had prescribed fast-acting medication in case the teen became agitated. The parents administered the medicine but there was no change in his behavior. They knew flying on a commercial airline was no longer an option, sensing it would trigger another episode.
Pacheco and Greene then tried a medical evacuation company but were turned down. A cruise line refused to help, too.