Mother hits out at airline after her learning-disabled son was removed from Ryanair flight after boarding 'nightmare' left him 'traumatised'

The mother of a traumatised learning-disabled man who had to be removed from a Ryanair flight says the airline must review its policy for vulnerable passengers.

The mother of a traumatised learning-disabled man who was a Ryanair flight says the airline must review its policy for vulnerable passengers.

Ann Maxwell from Edinburgh complained to the budget airline after the incident that saw her 27 year-old son Muir prevented from flying back from France.

Muir, who suffers from Dravet Syndrome - a rare type of child onset epilepsy - was not allowed to board the plane ahead of other passengers and take his pre-booked seat as is his usual protocol when flying.

Instead, he was forced to sit in an ambulatory van while the delayed plane prepared to board and was made to enter from the rear of the plane with other physically disabled passengers.

In the circumstances, terrified by the rush of oncoming passengers trying to get to their seats, Muir lashed out.

This led to him being asked to leave the aircraft with his carers and saw him stranded in France without enough medication to last until the next flight four days later.

His parents felt they had no other option but to arrange alternative travel to make sure he was taken safely back to his Cheshire-based residential specialist care facility.

Last night Mrs Maxwell - who was awarded an OBE in 2015 for her work in raising £10 million for treatment and care of children with epilepsy - hit out at the airline and is campaigning for change.

She said: ‘I have complained to Ryanair and they have refunded the cost of the seats but it is not merely an “inconvenience” as they have described it, but a complete nightmare.

‘I think they are overlooking the fact that from the moment Muir checked in to the airline he was in their care.

‘Muir, and others with learning disabilities are among the most vulnerable and need to be protected.

‘Ryanair have given me no reassurance that they will review their protocols meaning this could happen again to someone else.’

Muir developed child onset epilepsy syndrome following vaccination at four months old caused by a genetic mutation.

Mrs Maxwell said: ‘He is profoundly learning disabled, he cannot read or write. He walks and he talks but for anybody who doesn’t know him they wouldn’t understand what he’s saying.

‘His cognition is quite high for the most part. He is 27 and he has emotions of a man that age but he’s quite childlike in the way he lives his life.

‘He’s one of the happiest people I know despite all of that and has a great joie de vivre.’

Last month Muir travelled from Manchester to Marseille to his parents’ holiday home, flying with the assistance of two carers.

Mrs Maxwell said he received the help of special assistance at the airport, as is normally done, and he was first to board the plane and take his pre-booked seat at the front of the plane.

She said: ‘What happened going back is that Marseille airport didn’t perceive him as learning disabled, being distinct from disabled.

‘He was not able to be wheeled to the stairs of the plane and walk on.

‘The airline insisted that he and the carers wait with the other disabled passengers who were largely the elderly and in wheelchairs, but cognitively sound whereas Muir is less so.

‘Ryanair put them in an ambulatory van where they stayed for 30 mins because the plane was late to arrive.’

However those passengers were told to board form the back, along with some and in the opposition direction of others.

This forced Muir and his carers to face the barrage of passengers coming up the plane asking him to move out of the way, as he tried to make his way down to the front.

Mrs Maxwell said that how he was handled by the airport and airline put him at severe risk.

She added: ‘The bottom line is Muir lost the plot and he had a behaviour.

‘As you can imagine the perception for passengers is fear for themselves, because they see seeing a young man being violent and aggressive but actually the level of violence he displays is the level of his own fear and reflects his level of personal fear.

‘He was traumatised. He was kicking and biting and the carers did their best to protect the passengers, of which there were too many, but they were also protecting Muir from himself.

‘By the time he was in his seat he was so traumatised he couldn’t stop his behaviour.’

An elderly couple - who had been waiting to board with Muir - complained about him which Mrs Maxwell said she is disappointed with given the obvious learning disability her son has.

She said: ‘The pilot asked him to be removed.

‘In the circumstances of course the carers were grateful to leave the plane - because by then the damage was done. Hopefully not for the long term though. We will only know that the next time Muir flies.’ 

Since then, she has had an apology from the airport and an undertaking that procedure for learning disabled passengers is being reviewed and Muir will pass through the airport safely.

Although Ryanair refunded the cost of the tickets, Mrs Maxell asked for the cost of alternative travel to be reimbursed.

She said: ‘What are they going to do to ensure this never happens again? All we know from this experience is that in the event a Ryanair flight is running late, the boarding requirements of their most vulnerable passengers with intellectual disabilities, may be compromised.

‘And if the resultant Ryanair inflicted trauma leads to a behaviour, the passenger may well be denied travel - followed by a refund when complained about. Hardly inclusive.’

Lesslie Young, CEO of Epilepsy Scotland said: ‘The overt lack of understanding of the needs of a vulnerable young man combined with actions that could only end in distress for him and those supporting him is unacceptable at every level.

‘We support the campaign for change at Ryanair and hope it is the start of change for the better, where needed, across the industry.’

A Ryanair spokesperson said: ‘This passenger booked special assistance for this flight from Marseilles to Manchester, which is handled by Marseilles Airport’s special assistance provider – not Ryanair, and was boarded in line with standard operating procedures.

‘This passenger was not “removed from this flight”. During boarding, this passenger became very disruptive and was correctly denied travel, a decision that was welcomed by the passengers’ two carers who thanked the crew for their assistance as they and the passenger offloaded willingly.’

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