I’ve always had this slight fear that whenever I travel and I check in my luggage, my luggage may end up somewhere else instead of with me when I try to collect it from the conveyor belt after I’ve reached my destination.
I’m sure most of you would have the same fear. It isn’t just about losing your things, it’s about the hassle of having to wait quite a while before you can retrieve your things, that is if they even manage to find it.
Although airlines have made it a point to ensure that all our pieces of baggage are transported correctly from the airport to the airplane that we’re boarding, some things still go missing.
While we may feel the inconvenience of not being able to use our things or grab a change of clothes, how would you feel if the thing that the airline carrier lost was something that impacted your ability to move?
Yes, I’m talking about a wheelchair.
More specifically, the back part of a custom-made wheelchair.
It would be a nightmare, and sadly, this nightmare came through for one unfortunate UK lady.
“A Living Nightmare”
35-year-old Gemma Quinn was paralysed from the neck down after an accident that happened to her in 1992. Despite this, she never let her inability to move hinder her. She went on to write a letter to Superman actor Christopher Reeve telling him not to give up after he was paralysed from the neck down in a horse-riding incident in 1995.
Now an experienced traveller, she had intended to go on a 19-day trip of a lifetime across Asia with her two carers, and this trip alone cost her more than £15,000 (~S$26,380). She flew from Manchester Airport to Dubai on 23 December before arriving in Singapore on Christmas Eve.
However, her journey turned hellish when she was told that the back part of her custom-made wheelchair was missing during the first part of her trip, causing it to be unusable. Without this part, Ms Quinn had to be carried out on a stretcher for her connecting flight through Dubai Airport.
She felt “degraded” by the experience with Emirates. She said, “It was an absolutely mortifying experience. I kept telling all the staff that if they couldn’t find the missing back off my chair then there was no point in me continuing my trip. I got the feeling that they just wanted me off the aircraft. I eventually very reluctantly agreed to be stretchered to my connecting flight on the promise that they would be working on a solution by the time I landed in Singapore.”
She later added that the back part of the chair cost a few thousand pounds, and it had not been found or reported as missing by Emirates until she got to Singapore.
She was supposed to travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to celebrate the New Year before travelling to a beach resort in the country, but now, she’s cooped up in a hotel room in Singapore and is unable to even leave her bed.
“By the time I landed in Singapore, nothing had been done, the only thing they did was put a pillow on the back of my chair, held in place with two aeroplane seat belts. I told them how unsafe this was for me but they shrugged it off. Here I am now confined to my hotel room completely immobile, the only sights that I can see is the sights out of my window until Emirates deliver on a promise.”
She also shared, “This was meant to be a holiday of a lifetime which is now turned into a living nightmare. I have always tried to live a normal and active life as possible, travel always comes with its difficulties, but I have never been made to feel so disabled as I do now.”
Not The First Time
It is disappointing an airline carrier would claim that her wheelchair would be settled for her by the time she arrived in Singapore, but it wasn’t true. And as a result of their carelessness, she wasted money and time. She also had to feel degraded and feel useless for having to be stretchered because she was unable to move by herself.
Sadly, this isn’t the first time that Emirates had such a case. In July this year, they also broke the wheelchair of disabled passenger Jen Warren and failed to account for their mistakes until almost three months later. Ms Warren had previously described that she was appalled by the way she was treated by Emirates and was deeply upset about the incident.
Perhaps more should be done to improve on their service and also to cater to those with special needs.
Emirates Responded
According to The Independent UK, an Emirates spokesperson said that they would like to confirm that the missing part of Ms Quinn’s wheelchair has been found in Dubai and has been transported to Singapore on Christmas day. They said that it will be given to her personally once it has arrived.
They also added that their teams in Dubai and Singapore have reached out to Ms Quinn and tried their best to help her and her family continue on their planned holiday. They then ended off their message by apologising for the inconvenience they have experienced.
Hopefully, Ms Quinn is still able to continue her lifetime trip now that the vital part of her wheelchair has been located.
