A TikTok user has angered social media users by pretending to need a wheelchair in order to skip long airport queues.
Student Wolf Jenkins filmed himself jumping queues at Ibiza airport before a flight home to Bristol, admitting he had pretended to have an injured ankle and been given a wheelchair.
Mr Jenkins shared a TikTok video of himself removing a shoe and sock, captioned “Faking hurting my leg to get through security faster and onto the plane”, followed by a series of clips of him progressing through the airport, pushed by a friend and various airport staff.
He uploaded the video two weeks after his return, writing that he had decided to attempt the stunt upon realising that a long queue for security and check-in would mean that he and his friends would miss their flight home to Bristol.
As he limped into the airport, a member of staff asked him if he needed assistance, reported the Mirror. When asked if he had proof of his “fitness to fly”, as is commonly required when requesting assistance, he told staff that he had only just injured himself so had no proof. They offered him a wheelchair anyway, despite him saying that he could attempt to walk.
The prankster appears entirely unrepentent in the series of clips he posted online, which include him and his friend being given a whole row of seats to themselves on the plane, and spinning around in a wheelchair on arrival at Bristol Airport.
Captions on the video include, “Excuse me. So so much pain here”, “Wheelchair only thanks so much” and “Thanks Mr nice man”.
The video has has now been viewed more than a million times, attracting around 100,000 likes.
It has garnered plenty of negative comments too, however, including from TitTok users who wrote: “It just makes me so angry when I see p***** like him abusing the system. It’s a limited service and takes it from someone genuinely needing help through”.
Another said: “Imagine pretending to need a wheelchair. My son actually needs a wheelchair and it's not something anybody should be pretending about.”
A spokesperson from Bristol Airport declined to comment on the incident.
