A wheelchair-bound fitness enthusiast was trapped on a train stop with a broken elevator and no disabled bathroom. And staff refused to assist him on the hottest day of the year.
Chris Nicholson, a former rugby player, was on his way to London for a fitness event when his connecting train at Milton Keynes station was cancelled, forcing him to change platforms to catch an alternative.
Chris used Instagram to describe one of his “worst days in a long time.”
The platform elevator had been out of order for seven days, leaving the crippled wheelchair user with only stairs to the next station, and Avanti West Coast workers refused to assist him in climbing them for health and safety reasons.
He was told he would have to wait on the platform for four to five hours without a handicapped toilet while they redirected a train just for him – which would not be necessary if staff assisted him up the steps.
Those who can change platforms could catch a different train in 40 minutes.
Avanti staff told him he’d have to wait and even denied him access to the able-bodied restrooms, which were also out of service.
Chris claims that with a full bladder creating pressure on his lower back, he was forced to ‘bum shuffle’ himself up two flights of stairs. Avanti employees said they couldn’t and wouldn’t help him since it was ‘too much risk for them’.
‘They weren’t willing to even take my f***ing bags,’ he said.
‘A gentleman from platform one saw me struggle and he helped me,’ Chris went on to explain, carrying his wheelchair up the first flight of stairs.
According to Chris, it wasn’t until halfway through that station staff began to show worry about him, with the assistant manager complaining to the manager.
‘Because of health and safety reasons, that they would be liable, they couldn’t do the decent human thing and help me,’ Chris said.
Eventually the assistant station manager ignored instruction and helped Chris and his bags up the stairs.
Chris wished for the station manager to ‘really consider how much it’s actually affected me because I would hate to see your family members put through that.’
Chris said on Instagram after the ordeal: ‘My back’s in bits, I’m tired, I’m really emotional. One of the worst days in a long time. I was looking forward to coming down, not in a good spot which is unusual for me.’
Afterwards, there was an explosion of outrage on social media, with much of it directed at train service Avanti West Coast.
‘Is this seriously the world we live in?! Honestly disgusted people can still be treated like this,’ one user wrote.
‘@avantiwestcoast Are you seriously this unprofessional, unethical and ableist?’ another said.
An Avanti West Coast Spokesman said: ‘We were made aware of this incident last night and are sorry to hear about the customer’s experience.
‘We have since been in contact with the customer – who has arrived at their destination safely last night. We are also liaising with London North Western Railway – the Train Operating Company responsible for managing Milton Keynes station – as they investigate the circumstances of what happened.’
Chris, a former rugby player and enthusiast fitness, was wheelchair bound after suffering a spinal and brain injury while playing rugby in 2014.
He now talks about his experience and the path he took to overcome the trauma and go on with his life.
In his wheelchair, he climbed Mt. Snowden and ran the London Marathon.