SAA Customer Care - injured.

I landed Monday morning from Ghana in Joburg, now as far as I know there are meant to be crew members at the top and bottom of the stairs when landing and passengers are exiting/boarding the plane. That being said, when I was exiting the plane Monday morning around 6am, I unfortunately fell on the last 3 or 2 steps at the bottom of said stairs. Luckily for me there were 3 passengers near by that kindly helped me to my feet and picked up what I had dropped.

Please take note...their was a lady at the top of the stairs, but NO crew member at the bottom of the stairs to meet us, which is where I fell, yet there were 2 crew members to meet us at the bottom when we landed in Port Elizabeth. I have not only hurt my ankle but have been told my doctor that I have torn the legiment in my foot from how I fell and have to wear an ankle brace for 2 months.

SAA team leader on duty politely told me this will all be at my own medical expense (I was also told I must contact SAA customer care via email and they will investigate if they think they should reimburse me for the medical bills) because I didn't call for an ambulance immediately on the spot when this happened. - How could I when there was no one there to help except the passengers.

I walked (not thinking it was this bad) to the first counter I got to which was customs- asked for medical assistance and was told to walk to SAA customer care counter and ask them, even though I had just explained what had happened and that I cant walk properly anymore because of the pain, again I was told it's not that far and I will need to walk there. Once I got to the SAA counter I explained what had happened and asked for medical assistance as the pain was getting worse and worse, i was told to please take a seat as they have to get authority, which took about 30 minutes waiting for the team leader on duty to get there and to get a wheelchair because they had to wait for authority to approve it, all while I'm sitting in pain that was getting worse and worse and being asked questions about what happened, for the umpteenth time and for my passport and ticket for them to make copies of. I also told them they could ask the passenger who sat next to me for info if they did not believe me.

To add to this, the team leader brought a lady who claimed she was there (the crew member that was meant to be at the bottom of the stairs), but did not see anything. To which I said is odd seen as 3 passengers saw me fall, helped me up and the gentleman who sat next to me was more than 3m away, walking to the bus, heard the commotion and turned around to see what had happened. How she did not see or hear what happened is beyond me, and can only mean she was either not there when she was meant to be or was not paying attention. I was made to feel like a **** about the incident and was spoken to with such attitude from this young lady.

It saddens and angers me this happened and how i was treated as I have been a customer if SAA for a long time and I only use them when travelling, but I'm starting to think maybe I should pay a little more and use another airline.

As a side note, the staff who who helped me with my bags and pushed me around in the wheelchair were completely different and were very friendly.