Passenger in wheelchair says he was left with septic injury after being removed from flight on food trolley

Warning: This story contains graphic images of an injury.

A passenger who landed at Vancouver International Airport says he almost lost his foot to a septic injury after he was left stranded on aBritish Airways flight for hours and was only able to exit the plane after paramedics loaded him onto two airline food trolleys.

GeoffreySchneiderman, 63, who has multiple sclerosisand uses a wheelchair, says the incident left him not only with necrotic tissue in his foot, but also with lingering trauma and anxiety about confined spaces.

"It was as though it was happening to somebody else. There were parts of it, I remember, I was just closing my eyes knowingI am completely trapped," he said.

"It was terror. It was just terror."

British Airways has not responded to a CBC News request for an interview.Vancouver InternationalAirport said in a statement the report is "deeply concerning" and it is investigating.

Paramedics called after 2 hours

Schneiderman lives in the picturesque village of Stretton Sugwasin the U.K.On July 25, 2022 he boarded a flight from London to Vancouver to visit his family for a month-long holiday.

Upon landing, crew members on theBritish Airways flight said the Vancouver airport did not have an eagle lift a piece of equipment used to help passengers in wheelchairs safely exit aircraft.After two hours of confusion and several failed attempts to get Schneiderman off the plane, paramedics were called to assist.

When paramedics arrived, they used a clamshell backboard, a rigid stretcher that snaps in half down the middle and can be wedged under a person from either side of their body.

They slidthe backboard under Schneiderman, then lifted him onto the top of two trolleys normally reserved for serving passengers food and drinks during the flight. Schneiderman's head and legs hung offeither end.

Because the two trolleys were not attached to each other, they slidapart as the paramedics rolled Schneiderman down the airplane aisle. His partner, who was travelling with him, watchedin horror.

"The carts started separating that was the point when my partner said he nearly had a heart attack, because he could see what was happening and heard them call that the trolleys are coming apart," said Schneiderman.

"Food carts are just not designed to transport people."

Once out of the plane and onthe connection bridge, Schneiderman was dragged to his wheelchair.

"They pulled from under my arms and just dragged me. My shoes came off my trousers actually started coming off," he said.

Schneiderman had planned a month-long holiday in Vancouver, and his family had rented a special vehicle that could accommodate his wheelchair. But he spent most of the holiday bedridden, recovering from an injury to his legand a serious pressure sore in his foot,incurred during the hours-long attempt to remove him from the plane.

While his leg healed, the pressure sore only worsened with time, becoming septic, and almost requiringan amputation after the flesh died and became necrotic. Managing the wound and ensuring he had the treatment that would prevent him from losing his foot occupied almost all of Schneiderman's time.

"Before, I was pretty much in the best health that I've been in for a long time and it just put the spokes in the wheel for absolutely everything," he said.

"I was going to the hospital three times a week to have the dressings changed and it just took over my life completely."

Schneidermansaid in the aftermath he alsobecame increasingly worried about being trapped in confined spaces, including a previously beloved car that was retrofitted to his wheelchair.

"Iwas having panic attacks about it and panic episodes about being trapped in places," he said.

After months of back and forth with British Airways, the airlineoffered him a 500 settlement. He eventually negotiated the settlement up to 1,500, equivalent to about$2,500 Cdn.

That amount was not enough to cover the repairs to his specialized shower commode chair, which was also seriously damaged while on the flight, or his months of medical treatment.

In a statement, Vancouver International Airport said "airlines have a duty to safely onboard, carryand deplane all passengers. It is also each airlines' responsibility to work with their contracted ground handling crews who support airlines by providing the specialized equipment required for travellers with mobility issues."

String of similar incidents

Schneiderman's story is the latest in a wave ofothers that have highlightedhowpassengers in wheelchairs are treated while flying by air.

In late August, Rodney Hodgins, who has cerebral palsy, wasforced to drag himself off an Air Canadaflight in Las Vegas when he was told no wheelchair assistance was available.

In early May, Ryan Lachance, a B.C.-based comedian with spastic quad cerebral palsy, wasdropped and injuredby Air Canada staff while attempting to disembark a flight in Vancouver, after crew declined to use aneagle lift.

In a third case, 74-year-old Phil Gilliard suffered an arm injury after WestJet staff said they didn't know how to use an eagle lift, and attempted to hoist him out of his seat themselves.

Air Canada was summoned to Ottawa in November following the incidents, and announcednumber of changes to improve the way ittreats passengers with disabilities.

Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguezsaidthe airline would have a follow-up meeting in Ottawaahead of the busy holiday travel season. The Ministry of Transportation did not respond to a CBC News emailasking whether the follow-up meeting had occurred.

"I continue to be just shocked by the number of people who have had these horrific experiences," said Schneiderman, who has sought therapy and has not been able to return to Vancouver since the incident.

"It's absolutely horrifying and it just leads me to believe that we are not considered as genuine humans."