A mum-of-two who suffers from a debilitating neurological condition has branded staff at a major clothing retailer “inhuman” after they refused to let her use a store toilet, causing her to wet herself in the middle of a busy shop. Bianca Artwell, 30, suffers from Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) - a condition that affects her nervous system and how her brain and body send and receive signals. Her symptoms include weakness or paralysis, tremors or tics, difficulty walking, loss of balance, and incontinence.
The effect of the invisible condition on her can vary from day to day, meaning she often has to rely on a wheelchair or walking aids, and certain symptoms can come on quickly, occasionally catching her unawares. Bianca was recently in her local branch of River Island where she was trying to return a pair of shoes for her three-year-old daughter.
But as she approached the till she realised she needed the toilet - something she struggles to control due to her FND. She asked staff to use the store’s toilet, explaining her condition and that she was unable to wait but they refused, saying it was against company policy. Despite pleading with staff and the store manager, Bianca was told to go to a cafe across the road, but as she tried to leave the store she was unable to hold on and wet herself.
Rather than offering to help, staff ignored the distraught mum-of-two and instead put a ‘wet floor’ sign next to her. “My condition can vary from day to day”, said Bianca, who regularly works to raise awareness of FND and hidden disabilities and most recently held an event in Rugby - the same town as the incident happened - in April involving local businesses to raise awareness.
“On this particular day I felt quite independent with my aids so I asked my friend to watch my daughter while I went into River Island using my crutches so I could swap some shoes I had bought,” she said. “As I approached the till I knew instantly that my bladder retention was about to reverse and I needed to go urgently. I asked the ladies at the till if I could please discreetly use their toilet and explained I wouldn’t make it if I didn’t go immediately.
“They said no and said I needed to go to a coffee shop across the road. I pleaded again explaining I definitely wouldn’t make it there but they refused. I tried to at least make it outside but only got maybe a metre and a half away from the tills before my worst fears happened. My bladder let go.
“Stood in a pool of my own urine I turned to the three staff members on the till and explained I was really sorry but I had had an accident. They just stared at me and the manager who was getting ready to leave instructed them to put a wet floor sign down. I stood there frozen in complete horror. A staff member came up to me but instead of offering to help she just dropped the wet floor sign next to me and walked away. Stood in shock I assumed she must be coming back but instead she and her colleagues carried on their conversation. The manager even walked past me and shouted bye to her colleagues and just looked at me in my mess and left the premises.
“As other customers arrived, walking past me and my wet floor sign, it finally occurred that this was my problem and the staff weren’t going to help me in any way. No offer of going to a changing room, no offer of tissues, no offer of other clothing or even a, ‘are you okay?’.”
After phoning for help, two of Bianca’s friends came to her aid, helping her out of the store and taking her to another nearby shop to buy clean clothes and personal cleaning products. It was only as they left the store and a frustrated Bianca pushed over a mannequin that staff came to talk to her - telling her she had been ‘captured on CCTV’.
“Frustration did take over - I couldn’t believe what had happened,” she added. “My friend expressed her concern to the manager that he nor any other staff had not helped in any way. His answer was, ‘well, it’s policy that toilets can't be used by the public’.”
“I've previously worked in retail for years and there are characteristics that are exempt from this such as, elderly, pregnant women, children and those with disabilities. Is it policy to further fail a customer after an accident like this by offering no compassion, no dignity or treating them like a human being? I've never in my life been treated in such a cold manner. Left in the doorway of a shop with a sign directing people to look at the freak show, with no covering or support.
“It was like stepping into an alternate universe of robots with no emotion or basic understanding of disability or just human decency. They could see nothing wrong with their behaviour. I was looked at and treated like I was disgusting for what I did to their floor. My friends were looked at like they were overreacting with their disgust at how I was being handled. They simply couldn't understand why I was left outside barefoot, covered in wee, with no-one offering me any assistance.”
In contrast, she said staff at a branch of New Look next door went “above and beyond” to help her, offering a discount on some new clothes and allowing her to get changed and clean herself up. Bianca, who previously worked as a beauty therapist, was first diagnosed with FND in October 2020 and said she had struggled to come to terms with her disability, but had worked hard to regain her independence.
“I had come so far and worked so hard to deal with being disabled, but I feel like this has put me right back to where I was. That is what has upset me the most. I genuinely felt safe in that shop because I go there a lot, I knew there were people there who would be able to help if anything happened. But they didn’t. I’ve been left traumatised by it, I just can’t stop thinking about standing there in my own urine.
“It’s made me not want to go out. At the moment I can’t think of anything worse than putting myself in a position where I’m that vulnerable again.”
A spokesman for River Island said: “Every one of our customers matters to us and we were sorry to hear of this customer’s experience in one of our stores. Our Head of Customer Care is already in direct communication with this customer and we are reviewing our policies and procedures to ensure that everyone feels welcome and cared for whenever they visit our stores.”
