From Canada.com, the Regina [Saskatchewan] Leader-Post, the Ottawa Citizen,

Avery Ottenbreit, a 15-year-old with cerebral palsy and quadriplegia who was on her first solo trip away from home, was stranded for a day in the Ottawa airport after WestJet Airlines barred her from her scheduled flight. Officials with the airline said the harness that she used to keep her upright in the seat, shown at left, was unsafe for air travel.

Disability advocates contended that the girl’s harness was a personal disability aid, and that the denial of its use could be considered discriminatory.

“I think that by making this decision, WestJet needs to realize that this is a human rights issue with her rights to travel and they have a duty to accommodate her,” said Faith Bodnar, executive director for the Saskatchewan Association for Community Living.

WestJet officials were unavailable for comment. Because she was barred from flying on a commercial flight, Avery was flown home in an air ambulance. She had been attending a conference for youth with disabilities.

(Photo from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, StarPhoenix)

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 6th, 2008 at 2:37 pm and is filed under accessibility, advocacy, cerebral palsy, discrimination, human rights, international. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post