Humiliation on the plane: Disabled journalist has to crawl to the toilet!

Poland - A British journalist was forced to crawl to the toilet on a flight because the airline banned wheelchairs on board!

Frank Gardner (63) had to crawl to the toilet on the plane.
Frank Gardner (63) had to crawl to the toilet on the plane.  © Screenshot/X/@FrankRGardner

Last Monday, 63-year-old BBC journalist Frank Gardner posted on X (formerly Twitter) about his humiliating experience.

"Wow. It's 2024 and I've just had to crawl to the toilet on the floor of Polish airline LOT on a return flight from Warsaw because 'we don't have wheelchairs on board. That's the airline policy.' If you're disabled and can't walk, that's just discriminatory," he wrote angrily, adding a picture of his legs on the plane floor.

However, he praised the cabin crew: "To be fair, the cabin crew were so helpful and apologetic as best they could. It's not their fault, it's the airline. I won't be flying with LOT again until they get into the 21st century."

Frank Gardner no longer wants to fly with the airline

Frank Gardner (63) said the blame lay with the airline, not the cabin crew.
Frank Gardner (63) said the blame lay with the airline, not the cabin crew.  © Screenshot/Instagram/@frank.gardner

Gardner, who was shot and paralyzed by al-Qaeda fighters in Saudi Arabia 20 years ago, spoke about the incident on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday: "It's an outrage in terms of air travel that LOT [... ] didn't have a walker on board [...]. I had to crawl on my backside across the floor of the plane - which wasn't particularly clean."

The cabin crew were very embarrassed and helped as best they could, he reported. He particularly praised a friendly flight attendant who even lifted his legs to help.

Gardner added: "But the point is, folks, it's not difficult to have an aisle seat on board. These things fold down to the size of a stroller, if not smaller, and they fit in an overhead compartment or a closet."