I feel terrible about what happened to your friend. I'm surprised there weren't fellow passengers witnessing this who didn't help. Also, most aircraft flying overseas have two aisles and it is easy to cut through the galley to make it to the bathroom.
one time a guy was hanging out in the aisle talking to his friend who was sitting across the aisle from me. His backside was right in my face. After several minutes of this I said something and he turned around and yelled at me asking if I owned the airline. There are a lot of rude people feeling entitled traveling these days.