One of the lawyers for the Kentucky doctor dragged from a United Express flight said his client suffered a “significant” concussion and other injuries during the incident.
Attorney Thomas Demetrio at a news conference Thursday said that doctor David Dao has been discharged from a hospital, but the 69-year-old will need more medical attention.
“He had a serious broken nose, injury to the sinuses and he is going to be undergoing shortly, reconstructive surgery in that regard,” said Demetrio. “There’ve been a lot of inquiries about ‘did he really lose any teeth?’ Yeah, he lost two front teeth.”
Dao suffered a concussion and other injuries when he was dragged off a flight from Chicago to Louisville Sunday by airport guards after he refused to give up his seat on the full plane to make room for crew members.
One of Dao’s five children, Crystal Pepper, spoke at the news conference. She said what happened to her father “should have never happened to any human being, regardless of the circumstance.”
“We were horrified and shocked and sickened to learn what had happened to him and to see what happened to him,” Pepper said.
United CEO Oscar Munoz has publicly apologized and promised a review of the airline’s procedures.
Demetrio said he believes the airline’s apology — issued two days after first blaming Dao for the incident — was “staged” and done because United was taking a public relations “beating.”
Demetrio said Dao will “probably” sue over the incident and that the city of Chicago, which employs the guards, is also responsible.
