Tomas Woods, a wheelchair motocross (WCMX) world champion, has spoken of his 'degrading' experience
A teenage wheelchair user has told of his 'degrading' experience after he was forced to shuffle up a flight of plane stairs when a jet bridge broke. He added that British Airways had also lost his specialist wheelchair and his spare chair - which he only discovered after landing in Manchester following a connecting flight from Heathrow.
Once he got home, he complained about the flights and threatened to go to the press – at this point he said the complaints team then 'as if by magic' found his specialist wheelchair and spare wheelchair and posted them back to him. “It was pre-board so there was only us and the cabin crew, but it wasn’t brilliant, and obviously it’s a bit degrading, I suppose. After you spent £1,500 on a flight, the last thing you want to do is try to climb up a set of stairs – I was very frustrated.”
Since winning the competition, Tomas has increased his training, and went to the largest action sports training facility in the world, Woodward West in Stallion Springs, California, with his coach from March 12 to April 1 this year. After weeks of training, they were due to fly from Bakersfield to Dallas, then to London Heathrow and finally to Manchester – but their flight did not go to plan.
“The airport’s wheelchair is incomparable to mine – my chair has suspension and is sort of built to take anything. The airport wheelchair, you can’t push by yourself, you need to be pushed by someone, and it’s awkward to do anything.
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