Canadian Airline Told Cerebral Palsy Passenger to "Get Off on Your Own"... Forced to Crawl to Exit

Narrow Aircraft Aisle Prevents Use of Electric Wheelchairs
"We Have Difficulty Walking," Couple's Plea Ignored

An airline has sparked controversy after failing to provide an in-flight wheelchair, forcing a passenger with cerebral palsy who cannot move his legs to crawl to the aircraft exit.

According to reports from the British daily The Guardian and others on the 30th (local time), Rodney Hajins, a man in his 40s living in British Columbia, Canada, experienced a shocking incident while visiting Las Vegas in August to celebrate his wedding anniversary.

Rodney Hajins and Diana Hajins.
[Photo by Diana Hajins SNS]

Rodney was on an Air Canada flight, a Canadian airline, departing from Vancouver and arriving in Las Vegas, but after the plane landed at Las Vegas airport, he received no assistance while heading to the exit.

Rodney, who has cerebral palsy, cannot move his legs and usually moves around using a powered wheelchair. Inside the aircraft, the aisles are narrow, so he typically uses an aircraft-specific wheelchair provided by the airline to move.

However, Air Canada told Rodney, "We cannot provide in-flight wheelchair service, so you must get down on your own." Despite the couple's appeals that he had difficulty walking, the flight attendants urged them to get off by themselves, saying, "There is another flight."

As a result, Rodney, who was seated in row 12, got down on the floor and crawled to the aircraft exit. His wife, Diana Hajins, lifted her husband's weak legs, while other airline staff merely watched.

Diana recently shared this incident on her social media. She lamented, "It was painful and slow moving to the aircraft exit, and it was my job to carry my husband and seat him in a chair. In the eyes of others, my husband was hurt not only physically in his legs and back but also emotionally the most." After the story became public, criticism against Air Canada spread widely.

In response, Air Canada issued an apology statement, saying, "We will investigate the circumstances of this serious service failure." The airline also offered the Hajins couple a voucher worth $2,000 (approximately 2.7 million KRW).

In an interview with local Canadian media, Diana stated, "No matter how much money is given, the problem cannot be solved with money," and added, "This money should be invested in services for passengers with disabilities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.