Woman in wheelchair left behind at the gate by Ryanair

Woman in wheelchair left behind at the gate by Ryanair

LONDON — Ryanair has found itself in hot water after leaving behind a disabled passenger at the gate.

According to Travel Pulse, Niamh Herbert, a 20-year-old college student who suffers from Friedreich’s ataxia and requires a wheelchair to travel, was booked on a Ryanair flight from Dublin to London last week. The Guardian reports that Herbert was asked by the airline to walk herself onto the plane, and later asked to wait at the boarding gate before the plane ultimately took off without her.

She is now considering taking legal action.

Herbert, who was put on a later flight to London, tweeted about her ordeal, saying that Ryanair made her wait an extra 15 minutes to board and asked her to “walk up the stairs instead of being properly accommodated.”

She told The Guardian that Ryanair staff barely spoke to her, and is the only airline she’s ever flown that “puts passengers in wheelchairs on last rather than first.”

A spokesperson for the airline has confirmed the incident took place but laid the blame on Herbert for arriving at the boarding gate just 13 minutes before the flight was due to depart and for not booking any wheelchair services.

Herbert admitted to The Guardian that she had changed her flight at the last minute, but that she expected her wheelchair requirement information to be passed on. She is currently in communication with the students’ union at Dublin’s Trinity College in regards to potential legal action.

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