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The mother of a disabled child is reporting mistreatment at the hands of airline crew after they reportedly forced her to remove a ventilator that was enabling him to breathe. The flight from Tampa International Airport (TPA) to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) saw this sad incident unfold.
Melissa Sotomayor explained in a now viral TikTok video that her “son is dependent upon a trach, short for tracheostomy, and ventilator. He has vision and hearing problems.” She had documentation to show that her son needed the medical equipment, but a male flight attendant allegedly was not having it. He reportedly told her she needed to take him off of it and stow the equipment for takeoff. She explained that he needed these devices to live, but the flight attendant reportedly had two others and the captain also try to tell her to put the ventilator and portable oxygen concentrator away.
After reportedly being harassed by the crew (with the plane taxiing for close to an hour), Sotomayor was allowed to keep her son connected to his medical devices. The plane took off and arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) without further incident.
Sotomayor reached out to United Airlines after the flight (according to The New York Post) and was told that they don’t go against FAA guidelines (essentially backing the flight attendants).
Anthony’s Take: I can’t imagine what was going on during this flight. Essential medical equipment should be allowed to remain on when it is essentially providing life support. Heart pacemakers or portable oxygen concentrators (POC) are exempt from FAA directives around the use of portable electronic devices.
(Featured Image Credit: @missysoto0 via X.)
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