The life of a Paralympian is beyond hard work and trophies. Their grit takes them to the biggest podiums, but at the end, they have to prove their ability or in this case "disability". British Paralympian Sophia Warner was the latest to face an apathetic system. She has spoken out about a recent “devastating” airline experience.
Warner, 43, is a track and field athlete with cerebral palsy. She represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Therefore, she was taken aback when at an airport, she was asked to prove her disability.
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“I’ve not complained on Twitter before,” the athlete wrote.
On Wednesday (March 28), she took to Twitter explaining how an airport employee questioned her disability. The employee even told her she didn’t require assistance
“The order to publicly prove my disability incident by @easyJet yesterday was beyond devastating.”
Warner continued in another tweet to explain the situation further.
She wrote: “I was told ‘You look completely normal. Why do you need help'."
“I cried all the way home. I don’t even know where to begin with a complaint.”
Warner predominantly plays in T35 sprint events. She is a silver and bronze medal winner at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Other netizens who suffered similar situations joined in with comments. “I know your pain. I have had exactly the same experience with EJ ,” one person wrote. The tweet further revealed: "I was seriously injured on a flight due to poorly trained cabin crew but EJ has denied everything."
TV presenter Sophie Morgan Oh my god. That is unreal..Soph you poor thing. So sorry to read this. Sending love
— sophie morgan (@sophmorg) March 27, 2018 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">wrote: “Oh my god. That is unreal… Soph you poor thing.
Meanwhile, EasyJet responded on Twitter to Warner’s complaint. “We’re sorry to hear of Ms Warner’s experience," an EasyJet spokesperson said.
"The agent involved is employed by Airport Handling and both he and they have assured us that he was trying to ascertain what assistance was required to help Ms Warner. However, this was clearly not handled as sensitively as we would have liked. We will investigate this with Airport Handling to ensure any lessons can be learned and changes are made to how they train their staff," it reads.
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Feature Image Credit: The Independent
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