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Irish Mirror

World

Madeleine Patrick & Cathal Ryan

Disabled Ryanair passenger forced to drag himself onto bus after diverted flight 'felt so embarrassed'

Ryanair Spence Birmingham Airport Birmingham Bristol Lanzarote

A wheelchair user who is paralysed from the waist down was left 'humiliated' after being forced to drag himself along the stairs of a coach.

Disabled Ryanair holidaymaker Spencer Watts was flying back from a family holiday in Lanzarote when his flight to Bristol was unexpectedly diverted to Birmingham.

The dad of two, from Tiverton, South Devon, explained to Wales Online that he had notified the cabin crew that he needed an accessible coach for his transfer back to Bristol, however, despite being reassured by the aircraft team that assistance had been arranged, the 27-year-old claims both he and his family were left disappointed when he found no suitable accommodation was available.

Watts, who works as a sales advisor, then approached the four coach drivers waiting in the bay directly to see if there was anything they could do to help, to no avail.

Distressing footage shows the disabled dad being forced to resort to struggling to shuffle up the six coach steps backwards, using his hands and arms to drag his body along the ground.

Ryanair, however, has claimed that the flight crew requested special assistance upon arrival at Birmingham Airport but that the provider had failed to deliver it.

Spence said the experience was “humiliating” and that he feels as though Ryanair “failed their duty of care”.

Speaking to the publication, Spencer said: "My assistance at the airport had been booked a month in advance. They were fully aware that there was someone on that aircraft in a wheelchair that needed assistance on and off the aeroplane.

"I was left with no option but to bum shuffle onto a coach. I (felt) so embarrassed and humiliated in terms of having to do that in a crowded audience of people.

"Pressure sores are a big thing for us [people with disabilities]. Being put in that kind of situation, where I have to shuffle across a bare floor, there's obviously a very high risk of me getting a pressure sore and becoming bedbound for at least a few months.

"It's not a good thing. It's not exactly a comfortable manoeuvre for me to have to drag myself along the floor. Not only am I in a wheelchair, but the son I was with is also severely autistic, so change is a massive thing for him.

"And when he's seeing his dad bum shuffling on a coach, a child worries about the fears of anything could happen. So he's like, 'Dad, what if there's a fire on this coach, how are you going to get off?'

"It was a concern for my whole family, it wasn't just me. The upset, and the uproar for my family, all of us, wasn't needed and could have been avoided really easily. I would not fly with Ryanair again until I get an apology from them. They failed their duty of care."

The wheelchair-user says he notified the cabin crew (Kennedy News & Media)

A Ryanair spokesperson said: "This flight from Alicante to Bristol (17 Febuary) diverted to Birmingham due to adverse weather conditions at Bristol Airport. Special assistance at Birmingham Airport is managed a third-party provider, not Ryanair.

"As the flight was not planned to arrive at Birmingham Airport, special assistance at Birmingham Airport had not been pre-arranged, however the crew of this flight requested special assistance upon arrival at Birmingham Airport, which the provider at Birmingham Airport failed to provide."

A spokesperson for Birmingham Airport said: "Following the diversion of his flight from Bristol to Birmingham on February 22, the Birmingham Airport assisted travel team reacted as swiftly as possible, using an 'ambulift' machine to get Mr Watts off the aircraft and safely into the terminal.

"Airport colleagues then accompanied Mr Watts to staff at the airline's ground handler, whose job it was to guide affected passengers on to the onward road transport back to Bristol."

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