Wheelchair user is left to CRAWL off a Ryanair flight to Sweden

A wheelchair user was forced to crawl off a Ryanair flight after he was told there was no one to help him disembark, leaving him ‘humiliated’.

Adrian Keogh, from Wicklow on the east coast of Ireland, said he had to drag himself down the metal steps of the Ryanair flight when it landed at Landvetter airport in Sweden on Saturday night at 11pm.

Keogh, who has a spinal injury after a construction accident, said all he wanted to do was ‘travel with dignity’ but instead was subject to a ‘humiliating’ experience with cabin crew watching him struggle down the steps.

The 37-year-old, who has been in a wheelchair since 2015, was told when he landed in Sweden that the lift that would allow him to be taken off the plane in his wheelchair would take at least an hour to arrive.

Keogh, who went to Sweden to visit his daughter for her 14th birthday, said he decided to crawl off the plane because he was in pain and didn’t want to have to wait until midnight to leave. 

‘I feel terrible about it. How could this happen in 2023? I felt so humiliated being told that I had to wait at least an hour,’ Keogh told MailOnline.

Adrian Keogh, from Wicklow on the east coast of Ireland, said he had to drag himself down the metal steps of the Ryanair flight when it landed at Landvetter airport in Sweden on Saturday night at 11pm

‘I feel terrible about it. How could this happen in 2023? I felt so humiliated being told that I had to wait at least an hour,’ Keogh (pictured) told MailOnline

‘And then having to crawl along the floor in front of some people who were watching me. It was humiliating. I just can’t believe something like this happened.’

He slammed Ryanair and the airport for not providing him with the special assistance he had paid for. 

‘It’s shocking that the service is not there for me. It’s a total lack of respect,’ Keogh said, adding that he has been stuck on planes before because of a lack of assistance.

‘It was unacceptable to expect me to crawl down the steep metal stairs,’ he said. 

‘I am not looking for anything, only the service I paid for and to be able to travel with dignity.’

‘I want to highlight the struggle wheelchair bound people have to deal with,’ Keogh added. 

‘People don’t realise what things are like when you’re in a wheelchair.

He added that the authorities at Landvetter airport blamed Ryanair and Ryanair blamed the airport. 

Speaking about what needs to be done, Keogh said: ‘Both the airline and airport must be more responsible for their actions, instead of blaming each other, they need to work together.

‘No one should have to go through what I have been through.’

Landvetter Airport apologised for the incident in a social media post and blamed busy flight traffic and a medical emergency for the delay in assisting Keogh off the plane. 

Ryanair said it was looking into the incident, adding that special assistance at the airport was provided by a third-party.

Keogh, who has a spinal injury after a construction accident, said all he wanted to do was ‘travel with dignity’ but instead was subject to a ‘humiliating’ experience with cabin crew watching him struggle down the steps

James Taylor, Director of Strategy at disability equality charity Scope, told MailOnline: ‘Disabled people have long been let down in airports in the UK and now we have this appalling situation in Sweden.

‘For a long time we’ve been concerned about disabled people being failed by airlines and airports. 

‘This has been going on too long. The impact is often degrading, stressful and anxiety-inducing and stops some disabled people from travelling altogether.

‘It’s time that airlines and airports are fined for putting disabled passengers in peril.’