An airline has been forced to apologise to a cancer-stricken mum who was recently kicked off a flight with her family.
Elizabeth Sedway, from California, suffers from multiple myeloma and, subsequently, put on a mask to avoid breathing in germs ahead of boarding the flight home from Hawaii.
When staff on the Alaska Airlines flight caught sight of Elizabeth’s mask, they approached her demanding a doctor’s note stating that she was allowed to fly.
With no note to offer up to the staff, Elizabeth and her family were removed from the plane and forced to miss their flight home.
Today, we were at gate 8 ready to depart on Alaska Airlines for San Jose. An airline employee saw me seated in the...
Posted by Elizabeth Sedway on Monday, April 6, 2015
A frustrated Elizabeth took to her Facebook page to share a video of her story, writing:
“Today, we were at gate 8 ready to depart on Alaska Airlines for San Jose. An airline employee saw me seated in the handicap section of the boarding area. She asked me if I needed anything. The first time, I said no. The second time, I said, ‘well I might need a bit of extra time to board, sometimes I feel weak.’ Because I said the word weak, the Alaska Airlines employee called a doctor, she claimed was associated with the airlines. After we board the plane, an Alaska representative boarded the plane and told us I could not fly without a note from a doctor stating that I was cleared to fly. The video is of us being removed from the plane.”
The video quickly received tens of thousands of views, with many expressing their shock not only at the incident but also at the fact that Elizabeth ended up missing a schedule chemotherapy session at home over the delay.
The airline has gone on to issue an apology to Elizabeth and her family, with a representative apologising over their treatment and confirming that they would be refunding the family’s plane fares.
