Father of allergic boy removed from plane dies

A little boy who had an allergic reaction to dogs on a plane was crushed by the reaction of other passengers as his family was escorted off the flight. To make matters worse, the family was taking the trip to make some happy memories before the boy's

The passengers didn't know that the family's "bucket list" trip to the Northwest had been taken to build memories as Alvarado fought his fatal illness.

A service animal triggered Giovanni's allergic reaction and after flight attendants consulted with the airline's on-call doctor, the family was asked to leave the plane, according to Allegiant airline spokeswoman Kim Schaefer.

"We understood," Fabian said at the time. "They helped us off the plane, but as we gathered our stuff the people toward the back of the plane clapped."

Giovanni said he was "sad that this has to be a memory with my dad."

"People who don't have sadness, they don't understand," he said.

Alvarado told KING-TV that "as a dad, I was just hopeless right there. I just looked at the people clapping. I was just shaking my head. I was like, 'Man lets get out of here.'"

Two passengers on the flight said applause from other passengers was minimal, short-lived and did not appear to be malicious.

They also said Allegiant's crew handled the family's medical emergency professionally.

Carole Burton and Janet VanderYacht, who live in Washington and visit Mesa frequently, told The Arizona Republic they were dismayed at widespread media reports painting the passengers as cold-hearted travelers peeved that their already-delayed flight was being further delayed by a 7-year-old boy with an allergic reaction.

Schaefer said the airline worked with the family to get them on another flight and said the company was "sorry for the circumstances under which this family was traveling."

Upon his return to Arizona, Alvarado said he didn't want people to feel sorry for him. Rather, he wanted the ordeal to serve as a reminder: "Have respect for others because you never know what someone is going through."