Things are seating up. A Virgin Australia passenger, Shane Hryhorec, was recently booted from his flight all thanks to his wheelchair. The Adelaide-born flyer — who uses a wheelchair after a tragic swimming accident in 2007 left him disabled — boarded the plane with his service dog and a SmartDrive battery. This is a device … Read more
How are they getting away with that? It’s an oddly familiar scene: you’re waiting for your boarding group to be called at your flight’s gate, watching a wheelchair bound passenger dodge lines and board the plane first. Yet, once the plane lands, you’re scratching your head at that same flyer walking unassisted off the flight, … Read more
Tim Curry hasn’t lost his humor. The actor, 79, gave rare insight into his health condition after suffering a major stroke 13 years ago, but kept it light and cracked jokes along the way. Curry appeared in his wheelchair alongside his “Rocky Horror Picture Show” co-stars at a screening of the horror-musical’s 50th anniversary on … Read more
Plane passengers who use wheelchairs will soon have to take one more step before boarding. Southwest Airlines announced that anyone using a lithium-powered mobility device will have to remove the batteries and carry them into the cabin before checking in their wheelchair. The new policy, taking effect on Sept. 25, puts Southwest in line with … Read more
A disabled UK passenger had his “self-respect” shattered after he was reportedly booted from an easyJet flight before takeoff because he couldn’t walk to the lavatory. “I’ve always been a happy-go-lucky chap but this has knocked me back a bit,” Barry Dobner, 79 told the Liverpool Echo. The Brit, who has been wheelchair-bound since suffering … Read more
Shaunta-Maé Alexander had a long journey to the start line of Sunday’s United Airlines NYC Half, not just because she’s from Sacramento, Calif. The 35-year-old children’s book author and aspiring actress has overcome a lifetime of illnesses — even paralysis — to run her first half marathon. More than 27,000 athletes are expected to take … Read more
A wacky great-grandfather has spent three months converting his mobility scooter into a 8mph replica of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car. Vin Wardman, 92, worked for eight hours a day in his garden shed to construct the stunning model of the magical flying car from the classic children’s film. The retired railway worker painstakingly … Read more
Rachelle Chapman’s wedding day looked a little different than she’d planned. While most brides walk down the aisle, the blushing blond was escorted to the altar in a wheelchair after being paralyzed in a freak accident before her nuptials. “When my best friend pushed me in a pool at my bachelorette party,” wrote Chapman, … Read more
Frontier Airlines passengers are abusing the company’s wheelchair service to skip the line and secure priority boarding on their flights, the budget airline claims. “There is massive, rampant abuse of special services. There are people using wheelchair assistance who don’t need it at all,” CEO Barry Biffle said at a luncheon at the Wings Club … Read more
A parent writing on Reddit is letting others know that he or she will pay for the children’s weddings only if certain conditions are met — and now the parent’s youngest has balked at the conditions, so payment is out. The piece by the parent (gender not specific) has gotten nearly 4,000 reactions to date — with … Read more
A dog missing his hind legs was gifted a Mercedes-Benz wheelchair, and social media is loving the heartwarming moment. The 2-year-old pup named Bunny was found in April by dog-rescue service the Animal Pad during one of its philanthropic operations in Mexico. Bunny was hit by a car, which resulted in injuries so severe that … Read more
An Australian woman who has used a wheelchair since childhood hired a male escort so she could lose her virginity at the age of 43. Melanie Hawkes recently detailed the experience to the BBC, saying she’d long been terrified of her first sexual encounter. The quadriplegic video editor suffers from an inflammation of the spinal … Read more
A Reddit writer has shared a stressful and upsetting situation involving commuter travel and her young daughter. A woman who described herself as a 32-year-old female wrote on the platform that she and her five-year-old daughter boarded a commuter bus “at a busy stop.” The woman, who did not share her location, added that once they were … Read more
It’s an inclusive world after all. Disneyland updated the “It’s a Small World” ride Friday to feature two dolls in wheelchairs — a first in the California park’s 67-year history, CNN reports. One doll appears in the ride’s South America scene, while the other sits among dolls from around the globe, sending riders off with … Read more