Air Canada Allegedly Mistreats Toddler With Cerebral Palsy, Investigation Launched

A mother, who said she and her daughter with cerebral palsy were mistreated by Air Canada earlier this month, took to social media and news outlets to get justice. Now, the airline is investigating the matter.

Ellie Boyenko, from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, said a Sept. 10 flight to San Francisco turned into a nightmare.

Boyenko deplaned with her three-year-old daughter, Kinley, to find that the stroller they boarded the plane with, was missing.

“We got out of the plane and typically when you gate-check a stroller, it’s waiting as soon as you exit and it wasn’t there,” said Boyenko in an interview with Global News Tuesday.

Boyenko was told the stroller was at the ticket counter. But when she went there, with all of her carry-ons in tow, the pram was missing.

“I said, ‘can you find out where our stroller is?’ [The airline attendant] said ‘yes’ and then she turned away and didn’t radio, didn’t phone anybody,” said Boyenko.

The mother and her daughter, who had a soiled diaper, waited by the ticket counter for 45 minutes before getting a chance to get a bathroom break. Boyenko was told the carriage was at baggage pickup, but when she went there the stroller was again missing. Boyenko said that the entire ordeal took three hours.

Boyenko and her daughter traveled to San Francisco for therapy, which she said got off to rocky start because her daughter was so tired from what happened at the airport.

Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that restricts the movements of sufferers. Each trip costs approximately $10,000, the mother said.

“I didn’t feel like they understood how they treated us, how they treated Kinley with no dignity,” said Boyenko, after filing a complaint and being told she would be offered a 25 percent discount off the base fare next time they book with Air Canada.

Social Media is where the upset mom went to vent her frustrations, where she said she received a lot of support.

Because of the Global News report, Air Canada said it would open up an investigation and sent the news outlet a statement.

“We are very concerned to learn of this, as it does not reflect our standards on how we expect customers to be served or cared for, or how gate-checked strollers are to be handled. We will be contacting our customer directly about this truly regrettable situation, and we are also looking into this matter further,” read the response.

Air Canada said it would release the results of the investigation in October.

International Business Times did not receive a response to a request for comment from Air Canada.