Teenager With Down Syndrome Kicked Off Alaska Airlines Flight?

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image: alaska airlines

Yesterday I shared news about how Sesame Place became the world’s first Certified Autism Center theme park. This is great news for those with special needs.

Last week, Alaska Airlines kicked a boy with Down Syndrome off of a flight. (Not good news for those with special needs.)

The airline is being accused of disability discrimination after a teenager with Down Syndrome was asked to leave the plane after throwing up after boarding.

Alaska Airlines Flight 779 was getting ready to fly from St. Louis to Seattle on April 2 when the situation took place.

The story was shared by Patrick Hess’s sister, Meaghan, a third year law student. She was not traveling with her parents and brother on the flight.

The family was rebooked on a 6:00 am Alaska Airlines flight the following morning but the airline did not pay for the family’s hotel stay. (However, the family did get to fly home in first class.)

Meaghan said that her family was pretty much stranded by the airline at the airport for 11 hours, only being handed a garbage bag for the teen to throw-up into.

When reading a bit more about the story, it sounds like the airline asked Patrick to deplane due to being sick, which has nothing to do with having Down Syndrome.

Fox News reports that, “An Alaska Airlines spokesperson later told NBC that the teen presented a possible health risk.”

Meaghan also wonders if a non-disabled child would’ve been removed from the plane for throwing up, calling the airline’s actions disability discrimination.

Does this sound like disability discrimination to you or just a family being upset for being removed from their flight due to being sick? I’d go with the latter.

Find out more from Fox News here.

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