The family of a woman who died a year after crashing off a plane bridge launches a legal bid with Southwest Airlines

The family of a woman who died after falling off a Southwest Airlines jetway has announced their plan to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

Gaby Assouline, 25, was suffering from a genetic muscle disorder before falling from her wheelchair down a gate bridge last year, according to court documents provided to the New York Post.

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According to the New York Post, the Broward County suit says Assouline was traveling from south Florida to Denver in February when she asked someone to push her wheelchair down the corridor.

The lawsuit alleges a Southwest warden at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport denied her request, which meant Assouline was forced to handle the passenger boarding bridge alone.

Assouline, from Florida, then fell from the airplane bridge onto her head, causing serious injuries that left her paralyzed from the neck down, according to her loved ones.

However, the airline has claimed that Assouline refused help and that they were not to blame for the case.

“Southwest has folded its arms and blamed Gaby,” family attorney Robert Solomon told the New York Post.

“She fought for eleven months. Her family fought for eleven months. Now I will fight for them.”

“You have a family that was full of anticipation of coming home,” he said.

“But there were complications, and now they are sitting Shiva.”

Assouline died in hospital on Sunday after being bedridden for 11 months.

Her family had previously sued the airline for negligence in hopes of recovering costs related to Assouline’s multimillion-dollar medical bill.

Her parents’ attorney, Robert Solomon, said he will now amend and refile that lawsuit.

“What was a negligence case now becomes a wrongful death suit,” her attorney, Robert Solomon, told the New York Post Thursday.

“Gaby did everything right here and now the family is mourning her death.”

Assouline was traveling to Denver from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to visit her sister last February when the tragic accident occurred.

Solomon said her mother, Sandra Assouline, spent a lot of money preparing her apartment to meet Gaby’s special needs.

She prepared the house as she expected that her daughter would eventually return home.

Solomon said that Assouline was “a meticulous woman, a college grad”.

“She had planned the trip with her mother. It was the first time she flew solo. That should never have happened.”

According to the New York Post, Assouline’s mother said her daughter was aware of her condition after the accident.

“The fear and pain she shows in her eyes when she wakes up in those brief moments of clarity is too much to bear,” her mother said at the time.

In a statement released by the airline this week, Southwest said it “extends its sincere condolences to Ms. Assouline’s family, friends and everyone whose life has touched her.

“We have a more than 51-year commitment to taking care of our employees and customers and remain connected to the parties involved,” Southwest continued in the statement.

An airline representative said Southwest had “nothing more to share” than its statement, in which they “express our sincere condolences to Ms. Assouline’s family and friends” when The Sun reached out for comment.