EXCLUSIVE Ljubiša almost fell out of a plane: 'Blood was gushing, I'm looking for the man who helped me'

Ljubiša Karović, an entrepreneur from Vrnjačka Banja, became known worldwide because he almost lost his life on a Ryanair flight when, due to a window glass breaking in the cabin at an altitude of several thousand meters, he was almost sucked out of the aircraft.

While footage from the plane is circling the planet, and experts are analyzing how the incident occurred, the Telegraf.rs team traveled to the Greek city of Katerini to speak personally with Ljubiša about the dramatic moments on the flight from Thessaloniki to Munich, and about everything that followed after he was taken to the hospital with numerous wounds and injuries.

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In an exclusive interview for Telegraf.rs, Ljubiša Karović shared his incredible and shocking story, which could end with rich financial compensation, once it is finally determined who is responsible for the fact that, according to his and witnesses' claims, he was 'sticking out' of the "Boeing 737" plane for about two minutes.

At the beginning of the interview, we asked our interlocutor a simple question - how are you?

"Like I was run over by a train. I'm joking. I don't feel well at all, I try to turn everything into a joke to make it easier for myself. But the truth is, I have far too many physical and psychological problems. I can't sleep, for a few days I couldn't close my eyes even with sedatives. Now I somehow manage to sleep a little, but with nightmares and huge problems", Karović began his story for Telegraf.rs, and then added:

"I can't relax. Simply, at night, when the nightmares start, I get arrhythmia, my blood pressure jumps... There is no sleeping, I mean, it's chaos."

Despite the fact that some time has passed since the incident on the plane, it still cannot be known exactly how long the recovery will take.

"Nobody can tell me that. It depends on how everything goes. I am wearing a cervical collar for four to six weeks, then I will have to go for imaging again, after which it will be known whether surgery will be necessary", Karović said, and added that the psychological pain is much harder on him than the physical one:

"A person can somehow bear physical pain more easily. At least that's how it is for me. The psychological burden and the restlessness that I fell, that is a really big problem."

When they heard what Ljubiša went through, his family was, expectedly, extremely worried.

"Nobody could believe it... No one could believe that this would happen to me and that the injuries would be to that extent. Days passed before they understood what actually happened at all. It was truly chaos", Karović said.

The entire flight experience was traumatic for our interlocutor, and as a result, he developed a fear of flying.

"While I was in the hospital in Thessaloniki for seven days, and the hospital is close to the airport, every sound of an airplane creates a great restlessness in me. With this mindset now and my current condition, I don't believe I will ever get on an airplane again", Karović emphasized.

Considering that he was unconscious during most of the drama on the plane, Ljubiša mostly heard from others about what was happening.

"The worst details were those when I was outside the plane. The girl who was sitting next to me stated that the upper part of my body was like playdough. She says she couldn't describe it. The body behaved abnormally", Karović stated, and in the same breath added what the scene looked like when he finally regained consciousness:

"I was covered in blood. Blood was gushing from my head, since my eye and ear were injured... Blood was flowing from all sides."

Ryanair claims that Ljubiša was assisted by one person from the flight crew, while he says that only the passengers helped him.

"I saw that person upon landing. Before that, there was no one. When we landed, there was one flight attendant. Then another man came, maybe a doctor, I don't know what he is, I can't lie. He bandaged my arm, but all that happened when we landed. Otherwise, there was no one from the crew. That girl who was next to me helped me. My wife, when she saw what was happening, ran over to help. And some man appeared, he also helped us a lot. I would love for us to find him, to meet him, to get to know him, to talk to the man... He hasn't reached out yet... My wife bore the biggest burden."

If it weren't for his wife Svetlana and the passengers who reacted at lightning speed and did everything to save him, the question is whether we would have the opportunity to talk to Ljubiša, who speaks with so much respect and gratitude about his life partner and what she did to save him.

"She pulled me. As soon as she pulled me out, she put oxygen on me, and none on herself at all. Only later did one of the passengers run over and put it on her. I mean, that sound of air, it's very close to the window. That man brought a large bag and tried to block the hole, but it all flew out. Then they put a metal suitcase against the window, plugging the hole with it. I held it with my shoulder, and they held it with their hands, I don't know how long all that lasted", Karović said.

On the other hand, Ryanair claims that Ljubiša was not outside the plane...

"I feel bad because of those lies. There are many witnesses. I didn't see it, I didn't feel it, I was unconscious, but there are plenty of people who can testify to what happened. That story is a bit ridiculous", Karović said.

Of course, an inevitable topic was also the compensation for the pain suffered, but, according to our interlocutor, that is not so important to him.

"I haven't thought about it. The lawyer is doing his job. I just want to get back on my feet properly and for my wife and me to psychologically overcome all this", Karović stated.

Ljubiša is, after everything, grateful only for the most important thing.

"Just that I stayed alive. Thank God, thanks to that girl, to that man for saving my life... Everything else is - nothing", Karović pointed out.

We also asked how he felt about suddenly finding himself in the center of attention and having the whole world talking about him.

"It's a bit exhausting for me. In principle, I am a modest man. This is all a bit blown out of proportion for me. It personally bothers me, but at the urging of my lawyer, I realized that something has to be said, so that something doesn't happen again", Karović said.

It is hard to even imagine what it looks like to be sucked out of an airplane at a huge altitude, at a speed greater than 500 kilometers per hour. In an exclusive interview, Ljubiša Karović also told us about the traumatic dreams he has after everything, which torment him when, with difficulty, he finally manages to fall asleep.

"Well, those, let's call them nightmares, have come to me many times. Whether I experienced it while I was conscious or while I was unconscious, I can't understand, but that noise, how they are pulling me, it's somewhat mixed up in my subconscious. I can't describe it in words. And that image often comes to me. It's really hard to experience that, and when it repeats through dreams, the arrhythmias and high blood pressure immediately begin. A person cannot calm down", Karović emphasized and added:

"I'm still not even fully aware, I just pray to God to psychologically come back to life. Physically I hope I will return, but psychologically... It's a question."

It was announced that the passengers will file a class-action lawsuit, which in itself means support for what Ljubiša went through.

"It means something to me so that Ryanair would come to their senses. For there to be better aircraft control, for a flight to be a more serious matter. This is not the first time it has happened, and it shouldn't happen. After the previous excess, they probably took no action as soon as the same thing is happening. Just so this doesn't happen again, a lot of people will perish", Karović concluded.

Ljubiša Karović moved to Greece with his wife Svetlana about four years ago and has two children with her who live in Serbia. By profession, he is an entrepreneur, and his company cooperates with more than 10 European companies regarding the distribution of machines. Also, he rents out apartments in Greece.

(Telegraf.rs)