Ready for departure

Travelling by air can be an daunting prospect for a wheelchair user. Adaptive swimmer Sophie Etheridge shares her recent experiences.

As a wheelchair user, I have been terrified to travel abroad for years. Until last year, the previous time I flew was in 2019 when I went on holiday with a friend and I came back from the holiday feeling more disabled than when I left and utterly humiliated, too.

Travelling by plane is one of the very few times that a wheelchair user is without access to their wheelchair and doesn’t 100% know where it is.

Let that sink in.

A person who is unable to stand due to their legs not working, because it’s too painful or because they are paralysed, is strapped into a tiny, narrow chair, pushed down the centre of the plane (often hurting themselves on the arm rests) and then helped to transfer into a plane seat. That person then has to stay there for the entire flight, no matter how long it is, because there is no disabled toilet onboard. Even if there was, they don’t have their wheelchair so can’t get to it.

I am lucky, in some respects, that I am able to stand unaided and walk with my sticks but in 2019, I was still having rehab on my walking. On the flight home they didn’t let us on the plane first and opened a different door to what we were told, meaning our seats were at the opposite end of the plane. The result was me having to walk the full length of the plane using crutches, but I couldn’t walk that far. I ended up having to ask other travellers to stand so I could sit down and have a rest before continuing down the plane, it was utterly humiliating and the plane was delayed leaving because of me.

To make it worse, when we arrived at Gatwick I was waiting for my wheelchair to be brought to the plane door but was informed that there wasn’t one on board. They didn’t know where my wheelchair was; it wasn’t until I refused to move and asked for our ‘helper’s’ name so I knew who to complain about that he went and found my chair for me! I’m convinced he just couldn’t be bothered.

As a result of the above, swimming anywhere other than in the UK has been firmly out of my mind. There are swims I would love to do such as the Catalina Channel, Copenhagen, Best Fest and more, but I’m too scared to fly abroad, as are many others with disabilities.

That was until October 2024 when I attended the UltraSwim33.3 in Montenegro. I messaged them with all my concerns (lost wheelchair, broken wheelchair, inaccessible hotel rooms and more). Instead of saying that they were unable to help, they were determined to get me there! They helped with everything and made it possible. To reassure me about flying, they even ensured there was somewhere local that I could hire a wheelchair from in Montenegro in case my chair was lost or damaged during the flight. They organised accessible transfers for me, and made sure the hotel was accessible.

After the Ultra33.3k Swim, suddenly, swimming across the world feels possible.

For advice on flying abroad as a wheelchair user check out rightsonflights.com