Pregnant woman plunged into nightmare after WestJet canceled flight home from Jamaica… just days before her CONTRACTIONS started

A Canadian woman was forced to give birth nine weeks early after her dream vacation in Jamaica turned into a nightmare when her WestJet flight home was suddenly canceled.

Julia Henry, who was 31 weeks pregnant, and her husband, Jordan, were supposed to fly from Kingston, Jamaica, to Winnipeg, Canada, on August 3, when they were hit with the unfortunate news that their flight was canceled. 

The duo was told they’d be rebooked shortly, but after not hearing from the aviation company, they reached out to an agent, who told them the earliest they could get flown out of the Caribbean island was on August 7, five days after their initial booking. 

‘And we wouldn’t get back to Winnipeg until almost Sunday [August 9], and then another flight was we wouldn’t get home until the following Tuesday,’ Julia told CTV News. 

When they asked to be put on an earlier flight, they were told it wasn’t possible. 

Julia had asked to be rebooked on an Air Canada flight, but since it only had business class seats left, WestJet was unable to make the accommodation. WestJet was also not able to rebook them on a US airline for their flight back to Canada. 

‘Unfortunately, there are no flights scheduled on the requested routing with the specified airline based on the inventory available in my system,’ the agent told them. 

The couple ended up spending more than $4,500 on flights that would take them through Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on August 6, and a connecting flight to Winnipeg on August 8. 

The couple successfully made it to Florida, where Julia began feeling unwell and went to the hospital, where she was admitted for going into premature labor, she told the outlet. 

One day before their flight back to Canada, Julia gave birth to their daughter Keziah. 

‘It just escalated from one thing to the next and just so, so quickly. And it was like, nope, this is go time…our baby is coming now, and she’s not going to wait,’ Julia told CTV News.

Now, the family’s journey home has taken another detour, as they are expected to remain in Fort Lauderdale for several more weeks, while their daughter is in the NICU. 

The family is now facing growing financial problems, as the ‘bills are piling up,’ Julia’s mother, Krista Fidler, told CTV News.  

‘There’s accommodation, there’s transportation, there’s the rental car, there’s food. There’s the stress of just being away from home,’ she said. 

It is unclear if the couple purchased travel insurance, which could help offset some of the cost. However, most plans do not cover the cost of overseas births. 

Fidler believes the stress from the WestJet fiasco caused her daughter to go into early labor. 

WestJet wanted to rebook them on a flight five days later and were unable to get them an early flight, even on a different airline. They ended up spending $4,500 of their own money to fly from Jamacia to Fort Lauderdale and then to Winnipeg, but they never made it home

Julia ended up going into premature labor and giving birth to their daughter Keziah in Florida, where the couple are expected to remain for several weeks while their daughter is in the NICU

‘I believe in my heart of hearts that Julia would still be pregnant if she was home, and they would have got their flight home on Monday,’ she said. 

Julia has admitted the ordeal has caused her ‘a lot of stress.’ 

‘As of right now, WestJet has really disappointed us in how they’ve handled the situation,’ she told CTV News. 

WestJet told the Daily Mail: ‘We learned of this situation through the media and are looking into the booking. WestJet will reach out to the guest directly.’  

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Henrys for comment.