Welsh Britain's Got Talent star Jonathan Goodwin has said he was left on a plane for nearly two hours after staff failed to deliver his wheelchair to him. The Pembrokeshire escapologist was responding to a story about BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner, also a wheelchair user, who said he was left on a plane after everyone else had disembarked while he waited for his chair.
The 2019 Britain's Got Talent contestant and 2020 America's Got Talent semi-finalist was left paralysed by a stunt that went wrong during his rehearsal on America's Got Talent: Extreme in October. His fiancée Amanda Abbington - the Sherlock actress - said 42-year-old Goodwin was crushed between two suspended cars after they had caught fire, suffering a catalogue of injuries including a severed spinal cord and third-degree burns.
Tweeting to share Mr Gardner's story this week, Mr Goodwin said he'd also been left frustrated after being left on a plane for an hour and a half because no staff brought him his wheelchair. You can get more west Wales news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Read more: Britain's Got Talent star Jonathan Goodwin paralysed by stunt accident
"We were left on the plane for 1.5 hours... eventually they found a temp chair to get us to baggage claim. We were then told there was no-one to offload bags and to fill out a form, and they would be forwarded to us (Including my chair)," he said. "We were told by a sympathetic staff member that the reason is they had fired a lot of staff during Covid and haven’t rehired because they have realised they can 'get by' with a skeleton crew."
Twitter users were shocked at both Goodwin and Gardner's stories, with one saying: "1.5 hours?? Was appalling treatment for both of you!" Read here about the disabled man attacked by would-be puppy snatchers who says he's now too afraid to go outside.
Others said they'd had similar experiences at airports. One said: "Planes also have wheelchairs on board to comfortably get you down the aisle, when yours has been checked. I had a shattered leg in 2012 and was cleared to fly back home, but didn't learn of this til later. And also had nobody to assist me to bathroom in terminal. It's awful!"
Another added: "Happens all over the airport now. Baggage and cargo being returned on plane as no staff."
Goodwin was no stranger to the small screen before finding fame on Simon Cowell's talent shows. He has also featured on the Discovery Channel's One Way Out and How Not to Become Shark Bait as well as Channel 4's Balls of Steel and the Jonathan Ross Show. In 2012 he was given his own stunt series, The Incredible Mr Goodwin, on UKTV's Watch channel.
