Wheelchair user is left to CRAWL off a Ryanair flight to Sweden
Wheelchair user is left to CRAWL from a Ryanair flight: Passenger says he just wanted to travel ‘with dignity’ after humiliating experience on flight to Sweden
- Adrian Keogh was forced to crawl down the metal stairs of a Ryanair flight in Sweden
- Have you had a similar experience on a flight? Please contact rachael.bunyan@mailonline.co.uk
A wheelchair user had to crawl off a Ryanair flight after being told there was no one to help him alight, leaving him ‘humiliated’.
Adrian Keogh, from Wicklow on Ireland’s east coast, said he had to drag himself down the metal steps of the Ryanair plane at 11pm Saturday night as it landed at Landvetter airport in Sweden.
Keogh, who has a spinal cord injury following a construction accident, said all he wanted to do was “travel with dignity” but instead endured a “humiliating” experience with cabin crew watching him struggle down the stairs.
The 37-year-old, who has been confined to a wheelchair since 2015, was told upon landing in Sweden that it would take at least an hour for the elevator to arrive to take him off the plane in his wheelchair.
Keogh, who went to Sweden to visit his daughter for her 14th birthday, said he decided to crawl off the plane because he was in pain and didn’t want to wait until midnight to take off.
‘I think it’s awful. How could this happen in 2023? I felt so humiliated that I was told to wait at least an hour,” Keogh told MailOnline.
Adrian Keogh, from Wicklow on Ireland’s east coast, said he had to drag himself down the metal steps of the Ryanair plane as it landed at Landvetter airport in Sweden at 11pm Saturday night.
‘I think it’s awful. How could this happen in 2023? I felt so humiliated that I was told to wait at least an hour,” Keogh (pictured) told MailOnline
“And then having to crawl on the floor in front of some people watching me. It was humiliating. I just can’t believe something like this happened.’
He berated Ryanair and the airport for not providing him with the special assistance he had paid for.
“It is shocking that the service is not there for me. It’s a total disrespect,” Keogh said, adding that he’s previously been trapped on planes due to a lack of assistance.
“It was unacceptable to expect me to crawl down the steep metal stairs,” he said.
“I’m not looking for anything, just the service I paid for and to be able to travel with dignity.”
“I want to highlight the struggles that wheelchair-bound people face,” Keogh added.
‘People don’t realize what it’s like when you’re in a wheelchair.
He added that authorities at Landvetter airport blamed Ryanair and Ryanair blamed the airport.
Keogh, who is paraplegic after a construction accident, said all he wanted to do was “travel with dignity” but instead endured a “humiliating” experience with cabin crew watching him struggle down the stairs
Keogh said of what needs to be done: ‘Both the airline and the airport need to take more responsibility for their actions, instead of blaming each other, they need to work together.
“No one should have to go through what I went through.”
Landvetter Airport apologized for the incident in a social media post, blaming busy air traffic and a medical emergency for the delay in helping Keogh off the plane.
Ryanair said it was investigating the incident, adding that special assistance at the airport was being provided by a third party.