Flying back home from an event where he had advocated for accessible transportation, a man with cerebral palsy had to crawl down the aisle to his wheelchair after United Airlines failed to provide him with assistance. “Humiliating” is how D’Arcee Neal described his experience upon landing at Reagan National Airport in Virginia on last week. He had just been in San Francisco speaking on the very challenge he was about to face: having basic access to transportation despite his disability. “No one should have to do what I did,” Neal told NBC Washington, RT reported. Neal waited alone on the vacated plane for more than 30 minutes. Realizing no one was coming and having to use the bathroom, Neal dragged himself halfway down the aisle to where a wheelchair would normally be waiting for him. “During the deplaning process, we made a mistake about the need for the chair and it was removed from the area,” United told the New York Daily News. “When we realized the error, we returned the chair to the gate, but it arrived too late to assist Mr. Neal.” A supervisor was suspended for the mistake, though that has not been confirmed.
