This was not how Stephanie Groce wished to start out her wedding ceremony journey.
She was flying from Washington Nationwide Airport to San Diego through Philadelphia on American Airways on July 10 to arrange for the large day.
Groce, 27, has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and stated she made it so far as Philadelphia earlier than the itinerary fell aside.
That first flight operated on a small regional jet, typically abbreviated as CRJ.
“I’ve not had a great historical past with CRJs and my wheelchairs,” Groce stated. As a result of the planes are so small, her chair can by no means go within the cabin and all the time must be loaded with the bags, which she stated appears to make it extra probably for the machine to reach damaged after the flight.
“I’m sitting in my seat speaking myself by means of what I’d do in the event that they broke my chair at this stage of the sport,” Groce stated.
Her fears turned out to be well-founded.
“My wheelchair got here out sideways after which I watch the person who’s unloading my wheelchair and I see him choosing it up (and) I watch him drop it,” she stated. “As I’m watching my wheelchair fall to the bottom, I wound up on the bottom sobbing.”
Injury to Stephanie Groce’s wheelchair after it was dropped in Philadelphia.
Her wheelchair was severely broken on account of the autumn, and Groce realized she wouldn’t be capable to do her deliberate Disneyland cease and proceed on to San Diego and not using a working power-assisted wheelchair.
“There’s no approach I can go to Disneyland with out my energy help,” she stated. “Thank God we have been connecting by means of Philadelphia, which is the place I’m from.”
Groce’s mom was in a position to meet her and her now-husband on the airport. The couple borrowed Groce’s mom’s automobile and drove again to their house in Ft. Meade, Maryland, to retrieve her backup wheelchair.
“I’m extraordinarily fortunate to have two wheelchairs,” Groce stated. “When this occurs – most individuals solely have one wheelchair – you’re successfully downed till this will get resolved.”
Groce and her accomplice drove again to Philadelphia and continued on to San Diego the subsequent day, although she stated she needed to argue with customer support representatives on the airport about storing her wheelchair within the cabin, fairly than within the maintain.
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Groce stated the flight crew backed her up in getting her wheelchair onboard.
“They have been completely incredible,” she stated. “We acquired to California with out additional incident, which, thank God, as a result of I’m out of wheelchairs.”
American Airways acknowledged the incident in a press release to USA TODAY.
“American understands the significance of wheelchairs and assistive units to our clients who depend on them. We stay dedicated to enhancing the dealing with of our clients’ units and their total journey expertise. A member of our staff has apologized and is working with the client to exchange their machine,” the assertion stated.
Finally, Groce’s wedding ceremony went on as scheduled, however she stated she nonetheless isn’t certain when she’s getting her new wheelchair. The entire ordeal added an enormous quantity of stress to an already high-stakes journey, she added.
Stephanie Groce and her husband Jake at their wedding ceremony.
“Our our bodies bodily acquired to California in OK situation, however my wheelchair didn’t. In case you didn’t get my wheelchair there OK, you didn’t get me there OK,” she stated.
Groce added that she’s had comparable points when touring together with her wheelchair earlier than and hopes that airways will work to handle this ongoing drawback within the trade.
“I’ve had this occur to my wheelchair at a number of airports and that factors to a systemic challenge,” she stated. “It’s taking place in all places and as a substitute of simply turning a blind eye to it as a result of the underside line isn’t affected, they should up the coaching on it.”
Cruising Altitude: Knowledge does not present how ‘catastrophic’ airline wheelchair harm could be
How widespread is mobility gear harm in air journey?
Based on the Division of Transportation, airways “mishandle” on common about 1.5% of the mobility gear they transport. In 2022, that translated to 11,389 incidents reported by U.S. airways, up from 7,239 in 2021.
This 12 months, USA TODAY needs to focus on what these figures imply for vacationers with disabilities. We’re trying to monitor these incidents all through 2023 with the purpose of bringing gentle to an all-too-common drawback.
If your individual mobility gear was broken or misplaced by an airline this 12 months, please share your story with us utilizing the shape under:
Zach Wichter is a journey reporter for USA TODAY primarily based in New York. You’ll be able to attain him at [email protected]
This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Systemic challenge’: Flyers with disabilities face frequent machine harm