A man from Arizona who is paralyzed from the chest down came back home from a trip to Hawaii only to find out that American Airlines had forgotten to put his wheelchair on the plane.
Sam Shivers, who had been on a week-long vacation in Hawaii with his wife, Anne, faced a moment of distress when he realized that the wheelchair he had checked in at the American Airlines gate did not make it back home with him, according to a report by KGUN 9 News.
‘Without my wheelchair, it’s like I don’t have any legs,’ Shivers told the outlet. ‘I can’t get around.’
Shivers had checked his wheelchair in on March 26 at the airline’s gate, a routine he always follows, before flying with his wife from the Big Island of Hawaii to Phoenix, and then to their home in Tucson.
However, upon landing, Shivers came to a terrible realization – his wheelchair hadn’t been loaded onto the flight and instead was on the way to Los Angeles International Airport.
‘At this point, I almost felt like throwing up,’ he told KGUN.
‘I was like, “Oh my God, what am I going to do?” I can’t walk, I’m paralyzed from the chest down.’
While luggage mishaps can happen – especially across state or international lines – Shivers and his wife didn’t see this as a simple mistake.
Sam Shivers, of Tucson, Arizona, returned home from a Hawaii vacation only to discover his wheelchair he’d checked in at the American Airlines gate never arrived back home with him, and instead was on its way to Los Angeles International Airport (pictured: Shivers)
Shivers later discovered that there wasn’t enough space with all the bags to load his wheelchair, so an employee at Hawaii International Airport ultimately decided to load the bags over the chairs
Instead, they believe it was a deliberate decision made by an employee at Hawaii International Airport – especially since he wasn’t the only passenger on the flight severely impacted by a missing essential item.
‘I landed in Phoenix without a wheelchair; without my legs,’ Shivers wrote to Facebook.
‘Turns out, there wasn’t enough space with all the bags to load my wheelchair, another wheelchair and a stroller on the plane,’ he added. ‘So, someone at Hawaii International Airport decided to load bags over chairs.’
Shivers was left feeling stranded and helpless, later expressing that he would have gladly traded his luggage for his wheelchair had he known that limited space was the reason behind the swap.
‘It’s not like we can just hobble around to somewhere else, I can’t walk,’ Shivers told KGUN. ‘So wherever I am, that’s where I am.’
Shivers and his wife proceeded to spend hours at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, filing paperwork and making alternative arrangements for how he would get back home.
Employees at American Airlines tried to help, Shivers explained, but there was only so much they could do for him, as his wheelchair was in the air on the way to another city.
‘The baggage management team was fine,’ he told the outlet. ‘They were great, but they couldn’t make a wheelchair materialize.’
While luggage mishaps can happen – especially across state or international lines – Shivers and his wife didn’t see this as a simple mistake, as another passenger’s wheelchair and a baby’s stroller failed to make it back to the Phoenix Airport as well (pictured: Anne and Sam Shivers)
His wheelchair eventually made it back to his home in the Foothills eight hours after landing back in Phoenix
They offered him a hotel room for the night, but without his wheelchair, Shivers was left wondering how he was even supposed to get there.
‘I solved the problem by getting transported to my van by an awesome Passenger Wheelchair Assistant named David,’ Shivers wrote to Facebook. ‘Drove home, got in my spare chair and went on with my life.’
‘In the end, I feel like American Airlines gave a tepid response to my lack of mobility,’ he added.
‘Thank god my wife Anne Shivers was with me. She is a miracle worker.’
His wheelchair eventually made it back to his home in the Foothills eight hours after landing back in Phoenix.
When Shivers spoke with a complaint resolution representative on the phone the following day, all they offered was 10,000 points – barely a few hundred dollars in value.
‘How is this fair?’ he questioned in his Facebook post. ‘How do I make an impact on the problem? How do I impress upon American Airlines the need to resolve this problem permanently?!’
‘I’ll bet if the CEO of American Airlines didn’t get his wheelchair, there would be hell to pay.’
When Shivers spoke with a complaint resolution representative on the phone the following day, all they offered was 10,000 points – barely a few hundred dollars in value. They also offered a free hotel room, but without his wheelchair, he didn’t know how he’d get there
According to the Department of Transportation’s website, ‘your device must be returned to you in a timely manner as close as possible to the door of the aircraft, unless you ask to pick it up in baggage claim’
According to the Department of Transportation’s website, ‘your device must be returned to you in a timely manner as close as possible to the door of the aircraft, unless you ask to pick it up in baggage claim. Airlines must check and return your assistive device in the same condition as it was received’.
Through his experience, Shivers believes American Airlines should do more to better serve their passengers with disabilities.
‘I want my chair to arrive on time, with my flight,’ he told KGUN. ‘I want my counterpart, my fellow passenger’s chair to end up, and I want the car seat and baby stroller to show up for the family that has an infant.’
He has since filed a complaint with the US Department of Transportation.
‘This isn’t optional, nice-to-have equipment,’ Shivers wrote to Facebook. ‘It is quite literally the only way we paraplegics have to get from place to place.’
‘It seems to me that they need more motivation to change their ways,’ he added. ‘This behavior is sickening.’
This comes days after another disabled man claimed he was kicked off an easyJet flight minutes before take off because he ‘couldn’t walk to the toilet’.
Barry Dobner was due to travel from Manchester to Athens on April 3 with his wife Alison and friend Sheila.
Barry Dobner was due to travel from Manchester to Athens on April 3. Pictured with his wife
However, Dobner claims he was removed from the plane minutes before take-off after staff realized he would be unable to access the bathroom during the journey.
The 79-year-old has used a wheelchair since suffering a stroke 18 years ago.
