Wheelchair User Forced To Drag Herself Down Plane Aisle To Use Bathroom

Every day, nearly 100,000 flights take off and land all around the world. This means that there are roughly 6 million travelers using planes as their mode of transportation each day. With this amount of passengers, it is essential that flights and flight crews are equipped to accommodate the necessities of all travelers, including those who are not able-bodied and have trouble getting around.

One woman shared her nightmare experience while aboard an airplane after they failed to assist her in getting her wheelchair onboard. The flight made trips to the bathroom on board nearly impossible, and she was forced to resort to unsanitary measures in order to make it to one.

The woman was forced to drag herself down the plane aisle in order to use the restroom.

Jennie Berry is a determined traveler who does not let her disability get in the way of her trips. Despite being paralyzed from the waist down, she is usually able to board airplanes using an aisle chair that is similar to her wheelchair. The aisle chair allows her to sit comfortably, utilize the services on board, and get on and off the plane easily.

However, during one of Berry’s trips on Albastar Airlines, the flight was not equipped with an aisle chair for her, meaning that she would have to sit in coach in a seat designed for an able-bodied passenger. This would not only prove to be difficult while seated but would pose a major inconvenience when she had to use the restroom.

In a TikTok video that has received over 15 million views, Berry was left with no choice but to drag herself down the entire plane aisle using her arms in order to make it to the restroom at the front of the aircraft. “As you can see, they wouldn’t let me sit anywhere near the front of the plane even though there were spare seats,” she says in the video as she struggles to make it all the way down the aisle.

To make matters worse, when Berry asked for assistance from flight attendants making it to the restroom, she was denied as they continued to serve drinks to other passengers.

When she finally made it to the cramped restroom, her partner had to lift her off the floor and onto the toilet. “It was a bit of struggle, but when you got to go, you got to got to go, so this is what we had to do,” she says.

As if things could not get any more difficult for Berry, a flight attendant took it upon themselves to make a rude remark about her and other passengers with disabilities.

A flight attendant suggested that she wear diapers on future flights.

“One staff member rudely told me that disabled people should just wear nappies on board,” Berry reveals. “Which I find bizarre that people think that that is the solution to this scenario.” She adds that flight attendants also claimed that there was “not enough room” for aisle chairs that wheelchair users could access, however, there was room for drink, perfume, and cigarette trolleys.

“There are a lot of improvements to be made when it comes to access in the traveling industry and I hope that they’re made soon,” Berry says.

She is not the only person who feels strongly about this issue and certainly not the only one who has been discriminated against being a disabled passenger.

“This is ridiculous! So sorry that this happened to you,” one TikTok user commented. “A UK airport took my friend's crutches from her to security check them and left them far away up the airport. Her mum had to go get them for her!” another user shared.

“It’s awful I’ve been put off traveling as I’m a wheelchair user due to so many bad issues,” another user admitted. Many people also demanded a significant change in the travel industry to improve experiences for disabled travelers and encouraged Berry to contact the airline regarding the incident.

She decided to do just that, and would up speaking to the CEO of Albastar Airlines. Unfortunately, their conversation did not go well. “He assured me that there was absolutely no way that these aisle chairs could be placed on board due to the size of them,” Berry says in a follow-up video.

However, the equipment of the aisle chairs in question is no bigger than an ordinary carry-on backpack. “I’ve seen bigger hand, luggage on board,” she points out.

“I don’t need assistance when I’m in the toilet, I just need this simple piece of equipment on board,” she shares.

The CEO of Albestar Airlines allegedly blocked Berry after she sent them the dehumanizing footage of herself aboard the aircraft.

Unfortunately, her case is not an isolated event. In a second follow-up video, Berry shares screenshots of several news stories where disabled passengers have been mistreated by airline staff, ranging from their wheelchairs being mishandled and broken on flights (over 800 broken last year), to passengers being forgotten by staff and left with no assistance when de-planing.

The incident captured in the viral video was also not the first time Berry was neglected by flight crew members. In an updated video in February 2022, she shared a photo of herself smiling aboard an empty aircraft after she was told she was finally reunited with her wheelchair after being left on board for over an hour.

Woman Forced To Drag Herself Down Plane Aisle After She Is Unable To Walk To The Bathroom — Flight Attendants Suggest She Wear A Diaper

As a wheelchair user, she deserves to be accommodated and not treated like a second-class citizen.

The woman was forced to drag herself down the plane aisle in order to use the restroom.

A flight attendant suggested that she wear diapers on future flights.

Woman Forced To Drag Herself Down Plane Aisle After She Is Unable To Walk To The Bathroom — Flight Attendants Suggest She Wear A Diaper

As a wheelchair user, she deserves to be accommodated and not treated like a second-class citizen.

The woman was forced to drag herself down the plane aisle in order to use the restroom.

A flight attendant suggested that she wear diapers on future flights.

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