The TV star has been a wheelchair user since she was a teenager and was left on the brink on Friday when she discovered her device had been damaged during the course of a flight
Loose Women star Sophie Morgan has hit out at British Airways to accuse the airline of breaking her specialist wheelchair.
The 38-year-old TV star became emotional when she shared an account about her ordeal online, fighting back tears of frustration in the process.
Sophie has been a user of a wheelchair since she was 18-years-old after being involved in a car accident that left her paralysed from the chest down.
She has been a spokesperson for the disabled community and has built up an impressive career as a presenter and advocate.
One Friday, she explained that she had been travelling by air and was distraught to discover her wheelchair had been damaged during her flight.
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Loose Women’s Sophie Morgan has hit out at British Airways (
Image:
Instagram)
Sophie has been a wheelchair user for 20 years (
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Anthony Harvey/REX/Shutterstock)Taking to Instagram stories, she explained: “I’m absolutely f****** raging.
“British Airways have broken my Batec. I arrived at the airport and it was working.
“Now I’m reunited with it off the back of the plane and it’s not working.
“[It’s got] some kind of electrical fault, it’s not connecting when I turn the key and so what does that tell you? It’s been manhandled.”
Sophie accused British Airways of ‘manhandling’ her wheelchair (
Image:
NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Sophie then shared her experience of dealing with the customer care team – explaining how frustrated she was to be asked to lodge a complaint online.
She continued: “I honestly don’t think I can actually take much more of this. I was just told to put a complaint in through the website again.
“Thankfully I know that’s not what I’m meant to do. I’ve had no sleep, I’m absolutely exhausted.”
A spokesperson for British Airways told the Mirror when asked for comment: “We’re really sorry for our customer’s experience and are in direct contact with her to resolve the issue as we investigate what happened.”
Sophie also took to Twitter to highlight her experience – sharing a tweet that took aim at the airline and asked for her rights to be respected.
She wrote: “It’s happened AGAIN. British Airways have BROKEN my wheelchair.
“I am actually lost for words. @British_Airways @DisRightsUK @RightsOnFlights #RightsOnFlights.”
Her tweet prompted a response from the airline who replied: “Hi Sophie, we’re sorry to hear this.
“Please send us your details via DM along with as much information as possible so we can take a closer look.
“We’ll also need you to confirm your full name and contact details. We may need to ask you a few more questions for data protection.”
Sophie is a frequent panelist on Loose Women (
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Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)She also won an avalanche of support from her followers who were quick to offer her support.
One follower commented: “So sorry to hear this Sophie, appalling! My DMs are open if can be of any assistance complaint wise.”
And another tweeted back: “I’m hoping this awful news isn’t putting disabled folk off from travelling. It’s vitally important that we bounce back and not stay indoors.”
