When 24-year old, France-native Valentin Duthion planned his 27-day getaway to the United States, it took months of planning.
Not only was Duthion planning to travel with eight of his friends but he is also confined to a custom, $40,000 wheelchair due to spinal muscular atrophy.
Despite the logistics in organizing a month-long trip with a 250-kilogram wheelchair, including finding accessible lodging and planning ways to get around in major metropolitan areas, the friends were undaunted.
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They even set up the Dream Trotter Facebook page and a blog to chronicle their adventures.
"Despite [the] logistics we are determined to realize this experience together," said a post on the Facebook page.
The group said they also set up the site to serve as inspiration for other disabled travelers, because, as the friends learned, even finding information on how to go about such a trip posed a challenge.
"We have come to the conclusion: no travel guide offers tips and information on accessibility."
Finally, after months of planning, the friends had their itineraries planned, their hotels booked, and they boarded their flight bound for Newark, New Jersey. As is normal procedure, the friends left the custom, $40,000 wheelchair at the airplane door before boarding the aircraft.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Wheelchair-Bound Passenger Says United Employee Dropped Her[/READMORE]
Upon arriving in Newark, however, a nasty surprise awaited them. The wheelchair had been completely destroyed by United Airlines.
This wasn't a case of simple damage either. Instead, one wheel had been completely destroyed while another was tilted off its axis. The steering handle had been mangled and the user interface box had been completely removed from the chair
Duthion's sister Lucie tweeted a picture of the damage, accompanied by French text that roughly translates to "This is how United Airlines treats people with disabilities. Armchair destroyed (37,000 €), trip to the USA wasted. Shameful."
According to the French publication, Le Progress, after the friends discovered the damage, the airline summoned a mechanic, who apparently agreed that nothing could be done to salvage the chair.
The airline subsequently offered the use of an alternative chair, one that was not at all suited to Duthion's condition. What's more, United reportedly told the group they had to use the alternate wheelchair or else sign a waiver declaring that they had refused the airline's "help."
Not at all shockingly, the chair proved to be incapable of keeping up with the group's carefully planned itinerary through New York. At one point the battery broke down completely and the group was forced to push the 200-kg non-working but motorized chair for miles throughout the city.
Despite the added obstacle presented by United Airlines, the group is determined to continue on their vacation as planned. They recently posted a video of their experiences in New York City on the Fourth of July, including clips of managing the unwieldy temporary wheelchair.
Despite the airline's failure, their mission remains unchanged.
"Our project aims to disseminate a dynamic and positive image of disability and to show that travel is accessible to all!"
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