[BlindTlk] FW: [angelsonges] This is sad, Blind passenger removed from flight, left stranded

[Eric Calhoun]

Story about a blind gentleman from Belfast.  What ary your thoughts about
him missing his flight?  Is there an NFBUK chapter in Belfast?


Original Message: 
From: "Arlene" <arlenes71154 at earthlink.net>
To: <angelsonges at groups.io>
Subject: [angelsonges] This is sad, Blind passenger removed from flight,
left stranded
Date: 
Thu, 17 Oct 2019 11:23:59 -0500

Blind passenger removed from flight, left stranded in Paris without help
By Yaron Steinbuch
news section, new york post 10-15-2019
A 78-year-old blind and ailing Irishman said UK budget airline easyJet
falsely accused him of being drunk and booted him off a flight in Paris,
where he
was separated from his aide and left without medication, according to a
report. Eric
Smylie, of Lisburn, had traveled with his carer Davey Pogue, 64, to the
French capital
to attend the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and were due to return to Belfast
on Oct.
7, according to BelfastLive . I'm blind, diabetic and I have (Chronic
Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease), so being left in Paris on my own has been a
terrifying experience.
I keep reliving the panic attacks, he told the news site. I'm still
shaking about
it, I've lost my appetite, my confidence has gone and I feel nervous and
afraid.
My wife Meta, who's very ill, didn't know if I was dead or alive. Neither
of us will
get over this. Smylie said the flight attendants accused him and his
partner of having
consumed alcohol before they removed the pair from the plane and handed
them over
to French police, who separated the men. Davey was assisting me to the
plane but
when we got to the doorway one of the staff told Davey we couldn't come
on board
because we'd drink taken, he said. Davey said we'd had three drinks and
he was very
annoyed and challenged them. The whole thing blew up. But the air
stewardess said
we had to go. There was a whole row. Davey was very upset because he felt
responsible
to get me home to Meta safely, Smylie continued. We were not drunk. We'd
had three
of pints of beer in the airport. Some other passengers from Northern
Ireland stood
up to try to help us and said it was obvious we weren't drunk, he said. I
was shocked
beyond belief. I found out later Davey was put in police cells and I
ended up in
the Holiday Inn Express. I was terrified. I couldn't understand anyone or
see anything,
he said, adding that Pogue was treated by a French doctor for low blood
sugar and
held in a police lockup. I lay in the room and wept. Poor Meta was at
home and didn't
know if I was alive or dead. All she knew was that I was missing and so
was Davey,
Smylie said. She kept trying to phone me but my phone battery was dead.
When Davey
got his phone back he had 52 missed calls. The two friends finally made
their way
back to the airport, where Smylie broke down in tears when he was
informed the airline
had no more flights to Belfast that day. I was so frightened. People
helped me and
eventually I got an Air France flight to Dublin for £290 and when I got
to Dublin
Airport someone took me to the bus stop to get to Belfast. I was in
tears, he told
BelfastLive. An easyJet rep told the outlet: We are very sorry that this
incident
has caused distress for Mr. Smylie and Mr. Pogue and we are investigating
to fully
understand what happened and see if any lessons can be learned. Mandatory
safety
reports which were filed at the time report that the passengers were
disruptive and
aggressive towards our crew which is why the police were called to
intervene and
the passengers were not permitted to travel. We have contacted the French
police
to understand how the two men came to be separated after they were
escorted from
the aircraft, the spokesperson said. Unfortunately our customers did not
contact
us to let us know of their situation, so we didn't offer assistance at
the time.


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