By Leeza Clark

A TOWNHILL pensioner has suffered a nightmare journey which saw her abandoned, cold, hungry and thirsty, in a basement room at a Paris airport for hours.

Betsy Leitch (68), who has had a stroke and suffers from heart problems, said she spent eight hours alone in a room in constant fear.

And her mysterious disappearance for hours en route from South Africa left her husband and family, anxiously waiting for her to arrive at Edinburgh, frantic with worry.

For hours they did not know if Mrs Leitch, who suffers from mini black outs, had even managed to make it onto the plane in Johannesburg following a month-long holiday with her daughter Helen Gibson.

Daughter Jacqueline Rice yesterday told of the anguish caused by the problems with a missed Air France connection in Paris.

“Mum was due to leave South Africa last Thursday and was due to arrive in Edinburgh, via Charles de Gaulle airport, at 8.20 last Friday morning,” she said.

“My dad Jack, who is 72, was at the airport to pick her up with my sister Wendy but she never got off the plane and understandably dad flew into a panic.

“We were absolutely frantic and dad, who has had heart problems, was out of his mind with worry.

“With these mini black outs we didn’t know what had happened to her—she could have been lying in a toilet somewhere, not being able to speak the language and not getting help.”

Mr Leitch and Wendy immediately went to the Air France desk, but staff refused to give out any passenger information and told Mr Leitch that the only way they would find out Mrs Leitch’s whereabouts was to contact the police and report her missing.

The airline would then deal with the police on the matter.

The family, growing increasingly worried as the hours ticked by, were able to ascertain that Mrs Leitch, who had been booked on the flight with wheelchair assistance, had used her boarding pass in South Africa.

But it was only when Helen phoned to make sure her mum had got home safely that the family were able to find out where Mrs Leitch actually was.

“She has connections in South Africa with Air France and managed to establish within 20 minutes that she was in Charles de Gaulle, that she wasn’t with any helpers from the airline and that she would be arriving in Edinburgh at 5.25 pm,” said Jacqueline.

However, the relief the family felt at seeing her in the arrivals hall was short lived as Mrs Leitch, tired and upset at her long journey and her treatment, recounted her missing hours.

“We had paid for wheelchair assistance for her as it was such a long journey for someone that age who doesn’t keep in the best of health,” continued Jacqueline.

“That means she gets taken from flight to flight in a wheelchair with assistance from staff, but at Charles de Gaulle there were six people who needed this and mum was the last one to be dropped off at the Air France desk, who told her they had closed the flight to Edinburgh so she could not get on.

“In fact, another matter is that it wasn’t closed as it was running half an hour late, but mum, for some reason, wasn’t allowed to sit in the departure lounge.”

“They put her in a basement room on her own with a single metal chair where she was to sit all those hours.”

Mrs Leitch was growing cold in the chilly room, and seeing a pile of old newspapers, she started wrapping them around the chair to give her some warmth.

She also had a sore throat and asked some staff for hot water but did not receive any.

As she felt her sore throat drying up, she kept going to the toilet adjoining the room to dab at her mouth with tap water.

“It was a nightmare, very traumatic,” she said.

“I was sitting in fear because I saw police keep walking by and a man kept looking in the window of the room and I began to think that I could be assaulted or murdered in here and no one would know I was here.

“Nobody checked on me and I had had nothing to eat or drink from breakfast on the flight at 4.45 am. I asked if Air France had any vouchers and was told no, and all staff could keep asking was if I could speak French, but I can only speak English.”

But at least she felt confident that her family back home in Fife wouldn’t be worrying too much about her—she was sadly wrong.

“When she arrived in Paris she told staff her husband and daughters would be waiting at the airport for her and they said they would fax the details to Edinburgh, but that didn’t happen, so we were wondering why she hadn’t phoned us but she thought a fax had been sent,” said Jacqueline.

To add to her woe, after a day-long journey, she was stopped by customs in Edinburgh, despite a member of staff recounting her ordeal to customs officials.

All her bags and suitcase were searched, and the contents of her specially-bought South African teabags were spilled on her belongings.

Despite her ordeal, Mrs Leitch, who is a seasoned traveller who has paid regular visits to family in South Africa and America, had had a wonderful holiday.

And she stressed that, although she would never travel with Air France again, this incident hasn’t put her off flying.

“I am 68, I am not a criminal and didn’t deserve this. I am already on tranquillisers and after the high of actually getting home, I have now come back down to earth and am now upset and angry and want answers.”

Repeated attempts to contact Air France for comment have so far failed.