Man 'demoralised' after airline damages wheelchair

Joel Connor-Saunders said Ryanair treated his wheelchair like "damaged or lost luggage"

A wheelchair rugby player says he feels "demoralised" after an airline refused to pay the full cost of replacing his damaged wheelchair.

Joel Connor-Saunders, 28, who has cerebral palsy, arrived back at London Stansted Airport on a Ryanair flight from Toulouse, France, to find his £9,000 bespoke chair bent out of shape.

Mr Connor-Saunders, of Norwich, described Ryanair's offer of £1,500 compensation as "insulting," saying it was only a fraction of the cost of a new chair.

A Ryanair spokesperson said the company had offered the maximum compensation he was entitled to.

Mr Connor-Saunders said he could only use the wheelchair for a few hours and for short distances due to the damage

Mr Connor-Saunders, who plays for London WRC, is a personal trainer.

Arriving back at Stansted last December after a tournament, he saw the back of his wheelchair - which he uses in everyday life, but not for rugby - had been damaged.

He said it was "demoralising" as he used the made-to-measure chair for "everything".

"A wheelchair is not your generic medical kit, or it's not your generic luggage that's lost and damaged and can be easily replaced," he said.

Mr Connor-Saunders, who did not have travel insurance, said the company that made it told him it could not be repaired.

He used a hammer to straighten out the bent frame but said it was now painful to sit in, and he thought it was likely to break soon.

"I'm just sitting on a ticking time bomb at the moment," he said.

"I can only bear to be in my chair for two to three hours at a time or I'm in pain for the rest of the day."

Wheelchairs were "bespoke pieces of kit that give somebody like me their independence," he said

Emails state that the airline has accepted responsibility for damaging the wheelchair and has offered him £1,500 in compensation.

"That wouldn't even cover the costs of two wheels, let alone replacing the chair," said Mr Connor-Saunders.

"This has stopped me from being able to work. I'm incapable of fronting up that extra money myself."

A spokesperson from Ryanair said wheelchair handling at Toulouse Airport was provided by a separate company that it paid for.

"Under the Montreal Convention, the maximum compensation this passenger is entitled to is £1,500," the spokesperson added.