The heartbroken father of a man who died while travelling to Bulgaria on a Jet2 flight with his two children has issued a stark warning. Chris Neill, 40, was with sons Reece, 20, and Archie, 9, when he fell ill on the plane from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Burgas on September 16, 2024.
The pilot made an emergency landing in Cologne, Germany, where it is believed Chris suffered a cardiac arrest after collapsing as he left the aircraft. Off-duty paramedic Rachel-Victoria Leyland had tried to save Chris’s life. In the days after his death, his dad, Mal, and mum, Lesley, set up a GoFundMe to raise funds so their son’s body could be repatriated. On the anniversary of Chris’s death, Mal told the Liverpool Echo how money which wasn’t used for the £15,000 repatriation costs has gone into a trust fund for Reece and Archie after almost £24,000 was raised.
Mal flew to Germany the day after Chris died to arrange for Reece and Archie to be brought safely back home to the UK while he remained in Cologne to deal with the coroner.
A week after Chris’ death, Mal told the Echo how his son thought he had travel insurance through his bank, Halifax, but it had in fact expired.
Mal, 69, is now warning people to make sure they have travel insurance before heading off on holiday. He said: “The GoFundMe fund paid for Chris’s repatriation and funeral and gave his two boys a small trust fund each.
“As mentioned at the time, Chris thought he had travel insurance through his bank account but had changed banks and didn’t realise the new account didn’t include it.
“It’s a lesson people should take heed of: always check your insurance and if you don’t have insurance, don’t take a chance thinking you won’t need any.”
Mal, who has terminal cancer and lives in Bromborough, said Reece, his girlfriend and a group of friends walked up Snowden last week in memory of Chris.
The family has remained close to the woman who tried to save Chris’s life. Mal said: “We have become good friends with the paramedic who tried to treat Chris on the flight, Rachael-Victoria Leyland.”
He explained how Ms Leyland works in the Lancaster and Morecambe area and is good friends of the family who are also paramedics. She attended Chris’s funeral in Runcorn.
In a moving tribute at the time of his son’s death, Mal said the “staunch” Everton fan lived life to the full and was bubbly. He said the six foot four inch gym-goer was massive and lived for his children.
Mal added: “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.”
