EasyJet 'refused to play sobbing schoolboy home from Disneyland if he didn't leave his vital wheelchair battery'
A schoolboy was left 'sobbing' after easyJet staff 'forced him to ditch his wheelchair battery or they wouldn't fly him home from Disneyland' - despite jetting out with it.
Melissa Higgins took her family on a three-day trip to Disneyland Paris funded by Make A Wish Foundation with her 14-year-old son Anthony [AJ] Higgins on August 27.
Anthony has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive genetic disorder causing muscle weakness, that leaves him unable to walk. Melissa says his £10,000 power-assisted wheelchair is his 'life' as it gives him independence.
The mum-of-four says a pilot refused to allow the wheelchair battery onto the flight back from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Manchester airport on August 29 as the wattage wasn't visible.
When her partner Christopher Harvey, 36, tried to argue their case she claims the pilot's treatment became 'horrible' and said the battery posed a risk to other passengers.
The full-time carer says she's never experienced issues before, including on their outbound flight with easyJet, and claims she had paperwork saying it was safe to fly - but was forced to leave it in Paris.
Without his wheelchair the teen is now 'stuck' inside his house and unable to attend school.
Melissa, 37, is still hoping the £1,000 battery will be sent back to them and she has since received an apology by phone from the airline.
Melissa, from Speke, Liverpool, said: "I was in shock on the plane and thinking 'what's going on?'. We've not had this problem before. I don't get why all the commotion's gone on for nothing.
"It was a lifelong dream of AJ's to go to Disneyland. He was able to fly to Disneyland with no problems. [On the plane home] I disconnected the battery and one of the pilots was standing there.
"He walked in and got the other pilot and said to my partner 'what's that'? My partner said 'it's the battery for his wheelchair' and he said 'you can't bring that on the airplane'.
"It went through customs perfectly fine. If there was something wrong with it they would've known.
"He was like 'it hasn't got a wattage on it' but these batteries don't have a wattage on them because they're dry and not liquid.
"We were there for about an hour-and-a-half and he was trying to get this wattage for the battery, but I explained 'it doesn't have a wattage, we have all the paperwork from the manufacturers'.
"[But] he said it puts the other travellers at risk. [The pilot] started being dead horrible with [my partner] and saying 'if you don't respect what I'm saying you can get your family and get off the plane'.
"Doing this in front of everyone was humiliating and everyone on the plane was moaning. We were all crying.
"In the end we just wanted to get the kids home so we had to leave the battery behind and had to come home without it. Obviously we wanted to bring the chair back with us because it's his life."
The mum says her son has lost all of his independence without his wheelchair and is hoping to be reunited with the battery to avoid having to fork out £1,000 for a new one.
Melissa said: "EasyJet has caused unnecessary drama and stopped him from going to school and socialising. He's been stuck in the house and can't go anywhere.
"If he hasn't got that chair he can't get around. He literally can't walk and he can't propel himself because his upper body is too weak. It takes all his independence.
"It was donated to him by a charity and any spare parts cost a lot of money. We haven't got a replacement battery and we're hoping the battery will be sent back to us.
"We got told [the battery] was getting binned. Shouldn't we have the option whether we want to get it transported back over?
"I had a phone call yesterday and apparently it is at the airport and they're trying to get it back to him and apologised.
"Everyone is telling me to not let it go."
An easyJet spokesman said: "Safety is easyJet's highest priority and airlines must follow the safety regulations for the carriage of batteries, which are allowed to travel on the aircraft as long as the required information for safe carriage can be provided, and we advise customers of these requirements ahead of travel.
"Unfortunately as the necessary information could not be provided for this battery, in line with safety procedures it was unable to travel.
"However we fully understand the frustration this will have caused and are in contact with the family to offer further assistance and have arranged to return the battery to them today."