This Thursday, September 1, 2016, Kadeja, a nursery nurse who lives in London, took the plane with her son to go on vacation with her parents in Toulouse. But unfortunately the flight did not go as planned …
“I have a two-and-a-half-year-old boy, Isaac, who suffers from very severe autistic disorders. As is often the case with children with this disease, the slightest change in their routine, such as travel or vacations, disturbs them enormously, says the young mother. Every time I take a plane with him it’s stressful because I know he’s susceptible to a seizure. Also, I always warn the company of its troubles as soon as I arrive at the airport ”.
Usually, Kadeja travels with British Airways, “with whom everything is going well and whose staff are very understanding. It was my first time flying with Easy Jet ”. Also, upon arrival at theLondon Gatwick Airport (in England), the young woman informs the ground personnel then the flight attendants of her little boy’s troubles. But immediately, she has a bad feeling: “I immediately felt that the staff had absolutely nothing to do with what I was telling her”.
“He told me that my son was angry and that I just had to calm him down”
The flight went smoothly. But 20 minutes before landing, Isaac has an unbelievably violent fit. “Her crisis was really excruciating,” recounts, in tears, the young mother, relayed by our colleagues from The Dispatch. The only way to calm him down is to take him in my arms and rock. I did, but a flight attendant came over and told me very aggressively to put him back in his seat immediately and tie him up. “
“Isaac is two and a half years old, very frail for his age. When you have children under the age of two, they travel sitting on your lap. For landing and take-off, they put on an over-belt. This is what I asked the steward to give me. But he refused. He spoke to me in a humiliating manner, told me that I was unconscious, that if Isaac was on my lap and there was a problem with the landing I was going to crush my child. “
“He told me my son was angry and I just had to calm him down. It was humiliating, he made me cry in front of all the passengers, who were very shocked by what was happening. But the flight attendant didn’t want to hear anything. My child was screaming in his seat, trying to pull away, he was in a trance. The situation was so terrible that a passenger ended up getting up just before landing and coming and sitting next to us to help me hold Isaac. “
“It was so violent and degrading that I was totally panicked at the idea of making the return flight with the same company. This prospect will literally ruin my vacation. Have a autistic childIt’s already very difficult to live with but to be treated as if you were a bad mother unable to manage an ill-behaved child, it’s just unbearable, ”she concludes. For now, no reaction from EasyJet …