Sophie Morgan: Paraplegic TV host slams airline for 'ASSAULT' after $6k wheelchair damaged on flight
HEATHROW, UK: British television presenter Sophie Morgan's wheelchair was damaged on a recent British Airways flight last month. The 'Loose Women' panellist and disability advocate was returning back to the UK after a vacation in California, when the $6K-worth of damage occurred.
Morgan, who had suffered a paraplegic condition at age 18, asserted that the airline's actions and negligence resulted in what happened, and it was no different from a "attack" on a physically able person. In an interview with the Express, Morgan stated how painful it was to learn that British Airways had somehow damaged her crucial source of transportation.
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'It is an assault'
Morgan said, "It is an assault, an attack on a wheelchair is an attack on a human being. They are part of us. They are not luggage. I struggle with someone even touching my wheelchair, as it’s the same as touching a person’s legs." On January 31, Morgan posted a video to Instagram demonstrating the damage.
She wrote, "Landed at Heathrow with a bang. Someone - no one took responsibility - decided to attach my wheelchair and my batec (battery-powered attachment) whilst in transit (they were checked in separately, in two parts, unattached) and they have done so a) without permission and b) COMPLETELY WRONG!!! It took over half an hour to ‘break’ them apart, all that time I had to sit on an aisle chair that was NOT safe and I didn’t know if I would be able to get back into my chair."
She continued, "Eventually, they broke them apart and I got back into my chair and reattached the batec but it’s not safe to use. I then discovered more damage. And what was I told to do by BRITISH AIRWAYS!? Send an email via the website. This has GOT TO STOP. Thousands of chairs are damaged by airlines every year."
British Airways apologizes to Sophie
In a followup post on Instagram, Morgan claimed that the airlines had reached out to apologize and talked about the "rollercoaster few days" that followed. She also said she was "incredibly lucky" to have a replacement chair to use while hers was being repaired. "Our wheelchairs are our legs," Morgan said. "When airlines say they don’t have the space, they do have space, they just don’t want wheelchairs in that space."
Statement by British Airways
In a statement shared with The Independent, British Airways said, "We’re extremely sorry for Sophie’s experience and we’ve been in contact with her to sincerely apologise and to resolve the matter directly. We carry hundreds of thousands of customers who require additional assistance each year and we work hard to provide help and support them throughout the whole journey. It’s extremely disheartening when things go wrong, and we don’t underestimate the impact this has. We’re committed to ensuring we deliver a consistently good service, and we’ll be working closely with Sophie and our dedicated accessibility teams to discuss how we can continue to make improvements to ensure a great flying experience for everyone."