Dad's tribute to 'bubbly' Everton fan who died on Jet2 flight to Liverpool
The family of a dad who died on a Jet2 flight to Liverpool John Lennon Airport are now fundraising to repatriate his body after the flight was forced to land in Germany. The flight left Burgas, Bulgaria, at around 1pm local time on Monday, September 16, before it had to make an emergency landing in Cologne, Germany, when a passenger suffered a suspected cardiac arrest.
It has now been revealed that the passenger, Chris Neill, 40, was travelling back from holiday with his children when he suffered the medical episode. While on the flight, he was taken to the front of the plane with an oxygen mask before it landed. After landing, Chris walked off the plane and down the steps onto the runway.
Before he reached the concrete, the dad-of-two from Runcorn collapsed after what is believed to have been a severe heart attack. By the time he was taken into the ambulance which was waiting for him, he had died.
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Chris's dad, Mal Neill, flew out to Germany the following day to collect his grandchildren, Reece, 19 and Archie, eight, after the incident before sending them back to the UK while he dealt with the coroner. Speaking to the ECHO a week on from the death, Mal explained how Chris thought he had travel insurance through his bank, Halifax, but it had in fact expired, meaning the family are now urgently raising funds to repatriate the body back to the UK.
Mal said: "On the flight back he felt ill and they didn't know what was wrong. They landed in Germany on their way back and as he was helped down the stairs he collapsed. He was dead when they got him in the ambulance.
"His eldest son rang Chris's mum to tell her what happened and I flew out as soon as possible. I can't praise Jet2 enough for how they dealt with it all. The kids were taken off the flight and Jet2 put them up in a hotel and tried to find them a flight home the next day.
"I went straight to Manchester Airport because I live in Morecambe and just asked for the first flight out to Germany, they didn't have any flights to Cologne so I flew to Dusseldorf. I then went to Cologne and managed to get Reece and Archie back to the UK while I stayed out there to try and sort things out."
Chris grew up in Ellesmere Port before moving to Runcorn. Mal, 68, and a former Merseyside Police officer, said: "He was a staunch Everton fan and brought his children up as Everton fans. He lived life to the full and he was bubbly. He was 6ft 4in and went to the gym every day, he was massive. He lived for his children and when I was going through photos for the GoFundMe there are so many of him and his sons.
"He was full of fun, bubbly, he would do anything for anybody. I know people say that when someone dies but he would have. He was really liked by everyone."
His family are now fundraising for his repatriation, with Mal and his family estimating it would cost as much as £15,000 to pay for coroner bills in Germany, the repatriation and for his funeral in England. For more information or to donate, click here.