A Melbourne school teacher has claimed Air Asia staff members left her and her mother waiting for over an hour for a wheelchair before allegedly shouting at the pair for holding up the flight.
Andrea Smith said she and her 72-year-old mother Pamela – both of whom suffer from lupus – were heading back to Australia on Saturday following a two-week trip to Cambodia when their relaxing holiday turned into a nightmare.
The 41-year-old told Daily Mail Australia she and her mother arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at about 7.30pm for the second leg of their trip home but were not greeted with the wheelchairs she had ordered for them both.
Andrea Smith, a Melbourne school teacher, claims Air Asia staff left her and her mother – who both suffer from lupus – failed to provide them with their pre-booked wheelchairs
Ms Smith said she and her mother (pictured), 72, were heading back to Australia on Saturday following a two-week trip to Cambodia when their relaxing holiday turned into a nightmare
After allegedly waiting for an hour for a wheelchair, Ms Smith claimed she and her mother were forced to walk ‘miles’ to their next flight after allegedly being repeatedly ‘shrugged off’ by staff (pictured is Ms Smith’s foot after walking to the plane)
Ms Smith said although they are both able to walk, lupus makes it much more difficult and they are can’t travel for long distances.
Lupus is is an non-curable autoimmune disease. It causes the body’s immune system to mistakenly attack healthy tissue within the body, such as the joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Air Asia for comment.
After allegedly waiting for an hour for a wheelchair, Ms Smith claimed she and her mother were forced to walk ‘miles’ to their next flight after allegedly being repeatedly ‘shrugged off’ by staff.
‘They looked at me like I was subhuman and ignored me,’ she claimed.
The 41-year-old said matters only got worse when they boarded the plane and were reportedly told they had missed out on their pre-booked window seats.
Ms Smith said the luggage areas around them were also full, allegedly prompting a male air steward to place her items in a locker on the other side of the plane.
The school teacher claimed the air steward yelled at her in front of passengers when she asked the air steward how she was supposed to get to her bags since she has difficulty walking.
‘They said what do you expect – it’s a full plane, you held us up,’ Ms Smith alleged.
The 41-year-old said matters only got worse when they boarded the plane and were told they had missed out on their pre-booked window seats
Pictured is Ms Smith’s swollen right foot after the flight
The 41-year-old said all of the movement caused her legs to become bloody and swollen, which staff allegedly also ignored after she alerted them that she had bled in the bathroom.
‘It was just an absolutely horrific experience,’ she said.
‘We’re not talking about one or two people being rude, we’re talking about 10 people being rude.’
Ms Smith said she had decided to take her mother to Cambodia to help grieve the death of the teacher’s brother, who recently passed away.
Since arriving back in Australia, the 41-year-old has vowed to get her money back from the airline.