Man who dragged himself through Luton Airport after wheelchair failed to arrive is now suing

Man who dragged himself through Luton Airport after wheelchair failed to arrive is now suing | Secret Flying

A paraplegic man who dragged himself across Luton Airport after his wheelchair was left on a flight is now suing the airport.

 

A paraplegic man is suing Luton Airport after dragging himself hundreds of yards when his custom-made, self-propelling wheelchair was left on the flight.

 

Video footage shows Justin Levene, 20, from north London, dragging himself on his hands as other passengers seem oblivious.

 

According to reports, airport staff had offered to push him through the terminal on a high-backed wheelchair, which he rejected as degrading.

 

Levene is now suing the airport over the incident which happened in August 2017.

 

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Levene said: “When I arrived in Luton from Croatia they told me my wheelchair was left behind and there was no available equipment to use.

 

“What they offered me wasn’t a wheelchair – these things are on shopping trolley wheels.

 

“There is no way you can propel yourself on one, you have to be pushed on someone else, and that’s what this was all about. Its humiliating to be pushed around.

“Someone who isn’t aware of what it’s like to use a wheelchair won’t understand how important your independence is to you. It was humiliating.”

 

Levene’s lawyer, Sue Willman, told the BBC the case was not about money, but “access to justice”.

 

Luton airport defended its actions, saying Levene had declined all offers of help.

 

“On discovering that Mr Levene’s flight had arrived without his wheelchair, our teams worked hard to find a solution, offering Mr Levene an assisted wheelchair as a temporary replacement,” the airport said in a statement.

 

“Mr Levene declined all offers of help as he deemed them unacceptable.”