A disabled Irishman has criticized Ryanair for “unacceptable” disabled facilities after being forced to “jump” out of a plane unassisted over the weekend.
Adrian Keogh, from Wicklow, who uses a wheelchair since suffering a back injury in a construction accident in 2015, was told that it could take an hour for help to arrive to help disembark a Ryanair flight after his Ryanair flight landed at the airport Landvetter in Sweden. Saturday, reported the BBC.
Keogh said he couldn’t wait for help because he was in pain during the flight and needed to use the restroom.
His brother offered to carry him off the plane, but that too was deemed too dangerous.
“They were steep corrugated iron steps,” said Keogh.
“If he fell, we might each get hurt, so I had to jump off myself.”
He he told Insider that the incident “embarrassed” him, and noted that he had paid priority boarding “to have the comfort that nothing would occur to me”.
Keogh said traveling in a wheelchair is commonly frustrating.
“It is not the first time I have been stuck on a plane after everyone else has got off,” he told the BBC.
“It’s unacceptable – all I’m asking is to have the option to travel with dignity.”
In a press release to Insider, Ryanair apologized for Keogh’s experience and said they were “working with Landvetter Airport to make certain this does not occur again.”
Landvetter also issued an apology of his own, attributing Keogh’s treatment to “unexpected events” that delayed the relief service.
Keogh’s debacle at Ryanair is the latest public accessibility problem to hit the headlines.
Earlier this 12 months, Denver Alderman Chris Hinds was forced to crawl onto the debate stage after no ramps were available.
“I’m going to start a debate, I’ll do my best to share with the people ahead of me why I’m the best candidate. In the meantime, I’m awake in a wheelchair and lying on stage,” Hinds said of this difficult moment.