Bradley Richards was left with six fractures in his spine and neck, as well as internal bleeding (Picture: Bradley Richards/SWNS)
A man who survived the nightmare Singapore Airlines flight, in which a Brit was killed, has spoken about how he suffered life-changing injuries.
Bradley Richards, a 29-year-old engineer, sustained six spinal and neck fractures, in addition to internal bleeding.
His injuries, which he says have left him unable to continue work, were the result of horrifying turbulence encountered on his flight from London to Singapore last month, just as the plane was passing over Myanmar.
While Mr Richards survived the ordeal, another British national on board was less fortunate.
Geoff Kitchen, 73, of Thornbury, Bristol, died from what is believed to have been a heart attack during the air incident.
Mr Richards recalls being knocked unconscious by the turbulence, later waking up with blood pouring from his head.
Using a pillow to stem the flow, he says he ‘immediately felt spinal pain’. He was later escorted off the plane in a wheelchair once the flight finally docked in at a Bangkok airport.
Mr Richards has described the ordeal as ‘terrifying’ and ‘like a movie’ (Picture: Bradley Richards/SWNS)
Mr Richard says: ‘I was asleep or I think I might have been knocked unconscious when it happened. I remember waking up and my head was just pouring with blood, kids were screaming, people running around everywhere, it was so frantic.
‘It was like something out of a movie. I remember I felt the back pain straight away and blood was just pouring from my head. I tried to use my cushion to stem the blood – one of the ones they hand out for on the flights.
‘Once we landed, I was near the back of the plane and I remember the medical staff running on and having to step over all the injured people on the floor. They couldn’t get a stretcher to me so I was supported off the plane.
Doctors have told the engineer he may have to look for a new line of work even after he makes a full recovery (Picture: Bradley Richards/SWNS)
‘I told them about my spinal pain and the workers had to pick me up, support me under my armpits and carry me to a wheelchair.
‘I guess they couldn’t fit a stretcher right down the back because of the people on the floor or they might not have picked up on it due to all the chaos happening.
‘I was just a bit quiet in the aftermath, to be honest – it all felt so surreal. I didn’t scream or anything. It was just all so traumatic. When I came round and saw people on the floor, being stretchered – like I say, it felt like something from a movie, not real life.’
Doctors have since told the Essex telecoms engineer that his injuries will likely mean he has to find a new line of work once he has fully recovered.
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Early findings from an investigation into the incident indicate that a rapid change in the plane’s acceleration during the flight caused a sudden drop of almost 200 ft in just under four seconds, resulting in serious injuries to those who weren’t wearing seatbelts.
Mr Richards is presently receiving treatment in Thailand, where the plane was forced to make an emergency landing.
He is not yet sure when he will be able to even return to the UK.
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