Mother and son with autism stuck in Caribbean for three weeks after episode on plane prompts airline refusal to fly them home

‘I gave him gentle nudge and we made it to our seats, then he lost control’

A 15-year-old with autism and his mother were stuck in the Caribbean for three weeks after a sensory episode led to the family being asked to leave the flight meant to take them home.

Jamie Greene left her New Jersey home for Aruba alongside her son Elijah Kapatos, 15, and her partner Carlos Pacheco and their younger children Brandon, 7, and Brice, 12.

Elijah grew uncomfortable when the family arrived at Oranjestad Airport to fly back to Newark on United Airlines on 17 May.

He stopped at a doorway and started yelling “toilet”, Mr Pacheco said, adding that it was his way to communicate that something wasn’t right.

“We had gone on many vacations driving, and Elijah had never had any issues,” Mr Pacheco told NJ Advance Media on 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.”

“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 [Ms Greene] and me and continued screaming,” Mr Pacheco said.

A crew member said the captain had asked that they go back to the gate. The parents gave Elijah medicine prescribed by doctors back home but his behaviour didn’t change.

Elijah, 15, seen on the Carnival Cruises ship travelling from Aruba to Miami (Jamie Greene / Facebook)

Knowing that flying commercially was no longer an option, the couple contacted a medical evacuation company but were turned down. They received the same response from a cruise company.

“Even the US Consulate in Aruba ran out of ideas, and I had to get our two other children back to school at Toms River, so Brandon, Brice, and I flew back,” Mr Pacheco told the outlet.

The family was finally reunited on Monday.

“I cannot believe we’re finally home,” Ms Greene said. “At one point, I thought we would be stuck on Aruba forever.”

Julian Maha was on Facebook on 22 May at home in Birmingham, Alabama when he saw Ms Greene’s post asking for help. Mr Maha asked his friend Vicky Rey, the vice president of guest care and communications at Carnival Cruise line, for assistance.

Ms Rey managed to get one of their ships to change course to Aruba to collect Elijah and Ms Greene to take them to Miami. Mr Maha also asked volunteers from the non-profit KultureCity, an organization founded to promote acceptance for people with invisible disabilities, to drive from Atlanta to Miami and then all the way back to New Jersey.

“Given Carnival’s close partnership with KultureCity, our team has a deep understanding of the needs of individuals with sensory and invisible disabilities,” Ms Rey told NJ Advance Media. “When the organization contacted us about Elijah’s situation and we realized we could bring him back to the United States on one of our ships, we did not hesitate to offer help.”

Mr Maha said: “I knew the minute I read that post that I had to help. I am grateful that [Ms Greene] and Elijah are home safely. Their story resonated on so many levels since my autistic child Abram is of the same age as Elijah. My wife Michele and I identified with their sense of hopelessness and desperation.”

Jersey Shore star Jenni Farley serves on the board of KultureCity.

“The troubles that [Ms Greene] and Elijah endured were truly heartbreaking,” she said in a statement. “A few years back, my son Greyson became overstimulated at an airport and had a sensory overload experience. After I heard about [Ms Greene] and her son, I reached out to her while she was stuck in Aruba. The situation is unfortunately all too common.”

Ms Farley “was very supportive and told me that I was doing a great job through a very tough situation,” Ms Greene told NJ Advance Media. “I needed to hear that at the time. It meant a lot.”

“Policies have to change. I understand that airlines must follow safety protocols, but something like this should have never happened,” Ms Greene said, adding that she wished the airline had presented an alternative instead of leaving them behind.

“Airlines should treat invisible disabilities the same way they treat visible disabilities. Invisible disabilities include autism, PTSD, traumatic brain injury, anxiety, ADHD, strokes and other mental health challenges,” she said.

United Airlines’ disability policy doesn’t specifically mention passengers with autism.

In a statement to The Independent, United Airlines said that “safety is our number one priority and in this instance, since we fly daily out of Aruba, we worked to find and offer alternative United flights that same week to the customers who were impacted”.