Posted on 10/30/2023 10:12:10 AM PDT by DFG
Air Canada has been forced to apologize after a man with spastic cerebral palsy was forced to drag himself off a plane when the flagship carrier failed to provide a wheelchair for him.
Rodney Hodgins, 49, a hardware salesman from British Columbia who requires the use of a motorized wheelchair, flew to Las Vegas with his wife, Deanna, to celebrate their anniversary in August.
But when the plane landed, the flight attendant told the couple there wasn’t time to get a wheelchair on board before the plane had to prepare for takeoff again, Deanna Hodgins wrote in a recent Facebook post.
When the attendant said Hodgins would have to pull himself off the plane alone, the couple at first thought she was joking – but then she repeated the request.
“I said, ‘Of course I can’t. I’m in a wheelchair. I can’t walk,’” he told the Canadian Press.
Hodgins was forced to use his upper body strength to haul himself past 12 rows of seats, with his wife holding his legs.
In her Facebook post, Deanna Hodgins said the event left the couple devastated.
“It took us struggling, in front of a dozen people as some looked away and others looked on with shame, to get him off that plane … he hurt his legs and I hurt my back – emotionally a lot more was hurt … my husband’s human rights were trampled on and Air Canada won’t respond to us, and never did reach out like they promised,” she wrote. “Rod is the most beautiful human on the planet and didn’t deserve this at all.”
She said the couple had planned the trip for eight months and made sure they took care of all requirements on their end. “Air Canada failed us in every sense.”
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
“one fatty after another was shuffled to the head of the line in from of hundreds of people who had been waiting for two hours.”
I know able bodied people who have ordered a wheelchair just for this purpose. Just one more example of why, when whatever happens comes, we in the US probably deserve it.
Well now, you know planes are NEVER delayed... (Eye roll)
My thoughts, too.
He should have yelled out to His friend “Hi Jack, could You please help find a wheelchair ?”
That would gotten a fire lit under someone’s A$$ !!!
Prepare to get your A$$ $UED OFF air canada !!!
And the settlement should include that there be at least one (1) Wheelchair AT EVERY GATE, ALL THE TIME IN THE ENTIRE WORLD THAT air canada provides service.
Useless scumbags...
Rodney Hodgins lawyer aske him how much stock does he want from Air Canada.
To look at me, you would presume I am able bodied.
I used to be able to haul it from one end of the terminal to the other.
Now, I would collapse and have a seizure. I physically can’t do it anymore. Sometimes the issues are not readily visible.
Neurological damage courtesy of Dr. Fauci.
That’s terrible.
I am talking about people I know to be in good health abusing the accommodations we make for disabled people.
That’s insane. Surely they could have asked the ground crew to bring some sort of luggage cart.
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