James McElvar of Scottish band Rewind shows how he layered his clothing to avoid paying for excess baggage on a flight. He later collapsed from heat exhaustion. Photo / Supplied
James McElvar of Scottish band Rewind shows how he layered his clothing to avoid paying for excess baggage on a flight. He later collapsed from heat exhaustion. Photo / Supplied
Opinion by Winston Aldworth
Winston Aldworth is Head of Sport for NZME, working alongside New Zealand’s best sports journalists in the radio and publishing teams.
'Rock star in aviation emergency' headlines aren't what they once were. Where once Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Lynyrd Skynyrd went down in a blaze of glory, James McElvar has gone down under a flurry of overcoats.
McElvar, a member of the British boy band Rewind (no, I hadn't either)collapsed last week due to heat exhaustion caused by wearing all his clothes in order to avoid paying for additional luggage charges.
Could there be a less glamorous way to collapse? It's the fans who are meant to faint, mate, not you. You're a pop star - you're meant to collapse due to exhaustion from shagging groupies and burying your head in vast piles of cocaine. Robbie Williams must be wondering how things have gone so wrong in the pop-star universe.
McElvar, who was wearing six T-shirts, five sweaters, three pairs of jeans, two pairs of sweatpants, two jackets and two hats, was treated on the plane by an off-duty paramedic.
The "extra-layering" swifty has long been a cunning loophole for the low-cost passenger to exploit. One big, burly winter jacket can fill half a suitcase - or wear the thing on the plane and bung it into the overhead storage bins.
Part of me sympathises with McElvar. I used to board cheap flights from London to the continent wearing extra clothes, rather than paying to put them in the hold of the plane. But normal folk are allowed to do cheapo things when travelling: I've never been in a boyband - and unless there's a dramatic change of circumstances in my domestic and professional life - am unlikely to be in one anytime soon.
