A California woman with cancer, her husband and two sons were booted from an Alaska Airlines flight shortly before take-off from Lihue, Hawaii, Monday because airline employees decided she needed a note from her doctor before she could fly.

Elizabeth Sedway, 51, of Granite Hill, Calif.,  said she has multiple myeloma and would miss two scheduled chemo sessions as a result of the airline's decision.

"I am scheduled for chemo, at home, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Because of this, I will miss my chemotherapy, my children will miss school, and my husband will miss important meetings," Sedway said on her Facebook page.

“I am so heart-broken and disappointed. They won't allow me to fly, until I can get MY doctor, who is not here, to state, in writing, that I am ‘cleared to fly,’” she said.

Sedway said she first came to the airline’s attention when she put on a a surgical mask to avoid airport germs. She was allowed to board but was then removed from the plane.

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Julian Conley listens during opening statements in his trial at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. The 25-year-old is accused of fatally shooting 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in July 2020. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

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