Chaz Carl Powell died at a Jamaican hospital after being denied entry to a British Airways flight that would’ve gotten him to the U.K. in time for a blood transfusion.
The Black Brit was scheduled to board the flight on Mar. 9, but British Airways staff at Sangster Airport in Montego Bay prevented him from doing so because they claimed his passport was “badly damaged.”
Employees said the photos on his documentation “did not match” how he looked. It was a sickle cell complication that also included severe jaundice and weight gain. He reportedly notified them that he urgently needed to return home for life-saving six-week treatment at King’s College Hospital in London.
“You can still tell it was him,” his mother, Sandra Powell, told U.K. news outlet, My London. She reportedly couldn’t believe that British Airways staff told her son that he was unrecognizable.
The 41-year-old was previously in Jamaica visiting his girlfriend, Monique Allen, when he applied for emergency travel documents at the British Consulate. Allen told news outlets that as her boyfriend waited for his documentation, he complained about his growing symptoms, such as struggling to eat and painful stomach aches. His eyes also turned yellow, which was reflected in the photos that British Airways staff saw and referred to when they prevented him from boarding. As such, she took him to the hospital.
On Mar. 12, Powell died as a result of organ failure. Doctors reportedly tried to resuscitate him to no avail.
A spokesperson for the airline announced Powell’s passing via an official statement released on Mar. 24.
“We’re saddened to hear that one of our customers has passed away, and our thoughts are with his friends and family at this difficult time,” they wrote. “Airlines are required by law to ensure that all documents presented for travel are valid. While our airport team did what they could to help Mr. Powell, unfortunately, the photo page of his passport was so badly damaged it could no longer be regarded as a valid travel document.”
