Baggage handler left with brain damage after being dragged into conveyer belt

A baggage handler was left with brain damage after her scarf got caught in machinery and she was dragged along a conveyor belt at Heathrow Airport.

Jasbir Sahota, 52, who had worked at the airport for 30 years, was unloading luggage from a Loganair flight from Dundee to London on February 14 when the incident happened.

She suffered serious injuries, including brain damage, and is now permanently disabled.

Her family is now calling on her employers, global aviation services company Menzies, to cover the costs of the specialist care she needs.

Speaking to The Telegraph, her children Nina Haer and Harman Sahota and brother-in-law Satti Heir accused the firm of ‘treating her like a number rather than a valued employee’ and say they are now taking legal action.

Lawyers have launched a case in an effort to force Menzies to pay the estimated £300,000 needed to transfer Jasbir from Hillingdon Hospital to Wellington Hospital, a private facility offering more complex care.

Satti said: ‘Jaz deserves the best care and the best treatment and this just isn’t available on the NHS.

‘To stand a fighting chance of making any improvement she needs to be moved to the Wellington.

‘Every day she stays at Hillingdon – and they are doing their best – it is a day we’re losing her and that’s awful.’

Nina said Menzies had initially said they would do all they could to help Jasbir, who began working at Heathrow when she was 22, but have ‘not kept their word’ and have now become ‘completely obstructive’.

The family said Jasbir has been a long-standing, devoted worker and that they owe her their support.

As a result of the accident, Harman said she’s been forced to take time off work as a signal engineer for Network Rail due to stress, while Nina has taken on a less demanding position for a recruitment firm near the family home in Hayes, London.

A Menzies spokesperson told the Metro: ‘An active investigation is underway following a serious incident involving a Menzies employee at Heathrow Airport earlier this year.

‘As this is ongoing, we cannot provide any further detail at this time. Our thoughts are with our colleague and their family.’

Heathrow Airport said it was a matter for Menzies and that they would not be commenting.

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