A disabled TV presenter has slammed British Airways for its service after she was left stranded in her seat-without assistance during her 12-hour flight.
Sophie Morgan, who has fronted shows for the BBC and Channel 4, told her followers on Instagram saying she was unable to contact a flight attendant for more than half an hour on the trip from Buenos Aires to London Heathrow.
The 34-year-old, who had been in the Argentinian capital to speak at the Global Disability Summit, said she wanted to get some water to take pills, but no one answered the call bell.
She said in the video: "I was throwing headsets down the aisle to try to get someone's attention (without waking up everyone else in the cabin)."
The TV presenter said a cabin manager walked down the aisle and saw her and told her: "Calm down, you should just calm down, that's not our fault."
Sophie explained: "That’s not how you talk to someone who has just been left.
“I know it’s first world problems, but you have a duty of care.
"To try to (sic) explain what it feels like to not have any means of moving – short of dragging myself along the floor – is impossible.
“It’s not okay to be treated so badly."
Sophie – who fronted Channel 4’s Paralympics coverage in 2016 – was paralysed from the chest down in a car accident when she was 18 years old.
To make matters worse, British Airways is the official airline of Great Britain's Paralympics team.
After flying back on Monday morning, Sophie took the matter to Twitter and hit out at the airline's service on the flight.
Paralympians leapt to Sophie’s support on Twitter.
Shotputter Sam Ruddock, who competed at London 2012 and Rio 2016, responded: “‘Official airline’ of the Paralympic team, shaking my head.
“Full of empty gestures and hollow actions, when it suits the bolstering of their public image.
“Sick of this ‘you didn’t compete, so you aren’t worthy of attention’ attitude, Soph!”
Owen Hamilton added: “No airline should treat us wheelchair users that badly.
“I've had a lot of problems in the past with various airlines meaning I no longer fly unless I have to.”
James Taylor from disability charity Scope – which Sophie is an ambassador for – said: "It's disgraceful that any disabled customer has been put through a distressing experience like this.”
A British Airways spokesman said: “We carry hundreds of thousands of customers with disabilities each year and we work hard to provide help and assistance throughout the whole journey, from the point of booking to the final arrival.
“We're sorry to hear about this experience and we're investigating what happened as a matter of urgency.
“We've apologised to the customer and we're in direct contact to try and resolve the situation.”
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