Traveling with children is hard enough, so it's hard to imagine how difficult flying across the country with a special needs child is.
There's always at least one annoying person on every flight who might give you a nasty look, but for the most part, you'd imagine that special needs families would get cut some slack, not made into a spectacle.
That's exactly why Dr. Donna Beegle of Portland, OR is furious with United Airlines after they diverted her Portland-bound flight to Salt Lake City and asked the mother and her family to leave the flight. The Beegles were returning from a trip to Disney World, when Dr. Beegle noticed her 15-year-old, autistic daughter, Juliette, was becoming anxious because she hadn't eaten. Beegle says her daughter is intelligent, but has trouble communicating her needs, just like this child, and can get very upset when her blood sugar is low.
Concerned, Beegle apparently asked flight attendants for a warm snack for her daughter, even offering to pay out of pocket for some rice reserved for First Class fliers only. Everyone knows how difficult flying can be, but what happened next is unimaginable. When Beegle was rudely turned down by the flight attendant, she was frustrated and told him that her daughter might become unruly if she doesn't eat, hoping he would come around and get them a snack.
When the flight attendant returned with a meal, Dr. Beegle, who is a prominent advocate for anti-poverty programs, was shocked to hear the pilot say they would be making an emergency landing due to a "passenger in the back having issues." We can only imagine how this mother felt as her family was escorted off the flight, as people shouted that the girl, who was sitting silently watching a movie, did nothing wrong.
Beegle, who says in the following video that she was saddened and humiliated, filed a complaint with United Airlines and the FAA, but she plans on filing a formal lawsuit with the airline as well.
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