A woman who had ‘severe diarrhea’ while traveling has revealed why her personal trauma ended up cancelling the flight she was on.
Meghan Reinertsen has surely had the ultimate airplane journey of hell, from fighting for her life with simultaneous diarrhea and vomiting to being considered a ‘biohazard’ for hundreds of strangers.
Coming clean about her traumatic ordeal a year ago, the TikTok star recalled how she ‘single-handedly’ got a flight leaving Indianapolis canceled, and it all started with a questionable burger.
She explained: “If that flight cancellation changed the trajectory of your life in a really negative way, I’m so sorry. It was not without pain and suffering – let me run you through the events of that day.”
Meghan said she was travelling from Portugal, where she works as a live-in nanny, back to the US to attend a movie premiere.
The TikToker revealed HAZMAT had to be called in to clean the plane (TikTok/@meghanreinertsen)
She recalled having eaten some undercooked meat the night before her travels, and although she got through her first leg from Lisbon to Newark without any hiccup, her second leg to Indianapolis was a different story.
Not long in, she suffered a ‘disturbance deep within’, followed by full-body sweats, cramps, and agonizing pain.
“I’ve never felt anything like it in my life,” the TikToker said. “My insides are cramping, I can only imagine that that is what a contraction feels like.”
Meghan had ‘more diarrhea than any human should ever have in their life’ in just 20 minutes, she continued, describing how her bowels were ‘filling with water, releasing, filling with water – not water, diarrhea – releasing’.
While in the cubicle, ‘a 2×2 shoebox broom closet,’ she had to scream for help and a barf bag as for the next 90 minutes she was plagued with chundering form both ends.
Her sickness didn’t subside even when the jet landed, during which she had to ‘brace’ herself clutching the sink and the walls while ‘diarrhea is not stopping’.
“I don’t know how there was even anything in there to still come out,” she added.
Then, after her fellow passengers had deplaned, an air hostess told Meghan that the next scheduled flight had been cancelled and to take as long as she needed.
“In the moment I’m not thinking that’s because of me, OK, because I’m like ‘What a gorgeous coincidence!'” she said.
When she finally felt well enough to emerge, staff advised her to tie her presumably brimming barf bag up and ‘leave it’ in the cubicle – ‘because the HAZMAT team is going to come’.
She was told the HAZMAT team had to come in to clean the plane (Getty Images)
At this point, the penny dropped as Meghan recalled thinking: “Got it. Got it. You canceled that flight because of me, because now the HAZMAT team has gotta come in and clean it because you don’t know if I brought something back from Portugal and I am a biohazard.
“Like, I am patient zero.”
Meghan’s horrific ordeal didn’t just end there either as after miraculously making it to her hotel in a ‘withered’ state, and the movie premiere, she later ‘s*** the bed’.
Meghan said she had to come clean to the reception desk when checking out, saying: “She was so cool about it.
“I was like, ‘Ma’am, I am so sorry. I’ve been sick for maybe a couple of days, there’s just some sheets in the corner, just like tell housekeeping just to throw those out.’
“She goes: ‘Not a problem. Happens more than you think.'”
“Thank god,” Meghan concluded. “I get on my flight, I get back to Atlanta, never looked back.
“So you know how there’s been all these cuts at federal public health agencies lately? Well one of them is the CDC’s vessel sanitation program which conducts health inspections on cruise ships at least twice a year.”
The doctor says a cruise may not be all it cracks up to be (Getty Images)
Here he included a snippet from a CBA news article which stated cruise ship inspectors have been ‘laid off amid bad year for outbreaks’.
As for why this is important for your cruise, and your health, the doc explained: “They trace outbreaks to help reduce the chances of more people getting sick.”
And what’s more concerning is that since the cuts, he claims there has been a huge uptick in health scares onboard.
“We’ve already had 12 Norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships this year compared to eight last year,” he continued.
He said it comes down to a sanitation issue (Getty Images)
According to the NHS, Norovirus, also commonly referred to as the ‘winter vomiting bug,’ has some pretty nasty symptoms, like vomiting, diarrhoea, body aches, a high temperature and a headache.
It’s also highly contagious and can spread fast in cramped environments, like a cruise ship.
And needless to say, it’s not what you want while on vacation.
The warning comes as the Coral Princess reportedly suffered a major Norovirus outbreak that affected 69 passengers and 13 crew members while on a three-week trip from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale, as per VT.
The sick passengers and crew had to isolate while public areas were disinfected.
It also apparently wasn’t the first time the cruise liner suffered such an outbreak as the CDC reported the Coral Princess had another Norovirus outbreak in January.
Dozens are saying they wouldn’t consider a cruise anymore (Getty Images)
Dr Rubin continued to slam the cuts, saying they ‘make no sense because it’s not funded by taxpayer dollars’.
“The cruise ships pay for these health inspections, so it’s not like we’re actually saving any money from the taxpayers perspective. This makes absolutely no sense,” he concluded.
In the comments, dozens of his followers agreed with the doctor that a cruise holiday sounds pretty horrific with Norovirus as a potential passenger.
“Cruises are giant floating petri dishes. Ain’t worth it,” said one.
Another chimed: “Norovirus on LAND is horrendous. In a tiny cabin, on a ship, with other passengers. Ugh!”
A third added: “You could not PAY ME to go on a cruise.”
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/David Sacks
Topics: Cruise ship, Health, TikTok, Travel, World News
Liv Bridge
Flight attendant reveals real reason why they don’t help putting your bags into overheard compartments
The experienced flight attendant provided followers with two hand tips and a reason as to why she doesn’t help people struggling with bags
We’ve all been there – struggling to either fit your luggage in the storage chambers above your seats on a plane, or lift it above your head.
Well, apparently there’s a good reason why flight attendants stand there and watch you wrestle your hand-luggage into the overhead compartment – and it’s not because of the slap-stick comedy that ensues, with the suitcase fighting back at you in front of a plane full of people all staring into your soul.
We’d all be smiling it it was that easy to put a suitcase in the overhead compartment of a plane… where are all the other suitcases? (Getty stock)
No, the real reason makes a whole lot of sense, although I’d argue it is still rude – help a brother out, I’m sweating here.
Kat Kamalani is a flight attendant of six years, and she’s offered her expertise on the matter – including some knowledge that you probably never even knew.
Taking to TikTok to share her wisdom, she said: “I have three tips that are going to help you with your anxiety in the luggage and they’re going to be life-changing for you.
“The first rule of thumb I always say is, if you can’t lift it, don’t bring it – so try at home first to see if you can even lift it above your head, if you can’t take some stuff out.”
The practicality of it makes sense 100 percent, but surely there will be someone on the plane sitting near you who would be happy to help.
