Disabled mother forced to wet herself after cinema staff refused to let her use toilet: 'I felt so degraded'
A disabled woman has criticized Vue Cinemas after she was left embarrassed when they refused to let her use their bathrooms and she wet herself.
Camille James, 36, is a type 1 diabetic and has a bladder condition that requires her to use a bathroom within a few minutes, according to Metro. However, on December 3, she found out, much to her dismay, that Vue did not care for people like her.
She was stuck in traffic on the A40 near Acton, West London, when she was on her way to pick up her son. She needed to use a toilet urgently and made her way to a nearby Vue Cinema, only to be turned away by the staff.
She said she initially thought they were joking, but realized quickly that they were dead serious. She told them she was disabled and showed them her blue badge on her windscreen, but to no avail.
The 36-year-old continued to beg and even showed her insulin pump through her top. When that failed as well, she tried to head to the disabled toilet but found herself blocked by a member of the security team.
"They didn’t say anything. I’m pleading with them and they say why don’t you just go to Costa," she said. "I just froze. I couldn’t believe what they were doing. I thought I might be able to make it to Costa, so I walked out but as I reached my car I started to pee myself."
"I just sat down in my car and started crying," she added. "I could not believe what had happened. I felt so degraded by the end of it. I had to go pick up my son smelling of urine."
Vue addressed the incident in a statement and apologized to James. "The comfort and well being of all our guests is something we take very seriously and we are extremely disappointed to learn that this experience was not provided," a spokesman said.
"Vue has a clear policy in place that ensures guests who need to use the toilet facilities are able to do so and are looked after with compassion and discretion," the spokesman continued. "We apologize that on this occasion that did not occur and we will address this immediately."