Chronically ill passenger refused help to board plane

A chronically ill passenger who suffers constant pain has claimed Stansted Airport staff refused to help her board a flight because she was not ‘disabled’.

Nathalie Allport-Grantham, 23, said she was accused by workers of ‘wasting their time’ when she asked for assistance on her way to Nice in France.

Miss Allport-Grantham, from east London, suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which effects who ability to move about – often leaving her needing a wheechair.

She had booked ‘special assistance’ for her flight but when she appeared at the gate she said staff were ‘awful’ to her and refused help.

Miss Allport-Grantham told BBC’s Newsbeat: ‘She basically looked at me and said ‘I’m here to help disabled people, I’m not here to help you”.

‘But she didn’t ask my name. If she’d just looked at her list she would’ve seen I was the person she was waiting for.’

Miss Allport-Grantham also suffers from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which increases her heart rate and limits how far she can walk.

She explained that because her chronic illness was not always obvious, she was often judged as a result and even called a ‘liar’.

Miss Allport-Grantham, from east London, suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which effects who ability to move about – often leaving her needing a wheechair

 She said: ‘I’ve been told before ‘You look too pretty to be disabled’. People have an idea that a disabled person has to look a certain way.’

Standsted Airport said an investigation had been launched to get to the bottom of the incident.  

‘We are very disappointed to hear about Ms Allport’s experience and apologise for any distress caused’, a spokesman said.

‘We are speaking to the provider to find out more about the circumstances of the incident.’