A woman has claimed her young daughter was forced to sleep on the floor of an airport after she was barred from a flight because she has a nut allergy.
She alleges that a Turkish Airlines worker told her they couldn't fly back to London Gatwick from Bodrum in Turkey, prompting her eight-year-old daughter to burst into tears.
Despite the mum having told the airline that her daughter has anaphylaxis and could die if put in contact with nuts, she claims the company loaded desserts filled with the foodstuff onto the plane.
The mum and daughter - who did not want to be named - had to wait 30 hours in the airport for the next available nut-free flight to take them back to the UK, they claim.
During that time, the mum was unable to find her daughter any safe food and had to make a bed for her out of dresses on the terminal floor.
"My daughter was crying, she was so scared," she told The Mirror. "They left us stranded for 30 hours, with no food, no drinks, nothing. It was disgusting. My daughter couldn't eat anything, because they couldn't guarantee no nuts."
The pair had enjoyed a lovely week's holiday together in Bodrum before heading to the airport on Friday morning.
The mum claims she told a check-in assistant that her daughter had the condition, and that members of staff said they were aware of it.
"They asked for our medical documents and I gave them my daughter's fly authorisation from her paediatrician," she said.
"They boarded everyone, including my mum. Then the woman said 'You can't fly. Due to your daughter's severe allergies, we can not allow you to fly back to the UK on this flight'. I asked 'why?'. She couldn't answer my question."
The flight jetted off leaving her to ask other members of staff why they had been blocked.
"They said the desserts they loaded onto the plane contained nuts in them," she said.
"After a couple of hours, one of the staff said to us we didn't go through the info properly, we loaded the wrong food.
She claimed: "They accepted liability."
She added that, despite the alleged admission, she and her daughter were left at the airport for 30 hours.
They had to book themselves onto the next nut-free flight that was available, which was the following afternoon.
"No one helped us," she said. "My daughter was sleeping on my clothes. I took out a couple of towels to put under her and dresses to keep her warm.
"My daughter can stop breathing if she has nuts. Even though they accepted liability they did not help us at all."
Allergy UK recommends planning ahead when travelling with an allergy.
"It is important that airline staff are informed of a food allergy at every opportunity," the organisation writes.
"This is particularly important when checking in at the airport, boarding the flight and EVERY time a snack or meal is offered (as it may be by a different person).
"Individual airlines will have their own policy on food allergy management and this will vary depending on the provider.
"There is no legislation to date that determines best practice for managing the needs of the food allergic traveller."
Turkish Airlines has been contacted for comment.
