Guernsey Press

Disabled tourist left upset after ferry 'humiliation'

A DISABLED man has described his humiliation after Condor staff refused to help him board a boat to Guernsey.

Published
0757849

A DISABLED man has described his humiliation after Condor staff refused to help him board a boat to Guernsey.

Tony Catania (pictured), who struggles to walk more than 50 metres at a time, was repeatedly refused help to board the boat in Jersey after having asked for wheelchair assistance.

The 63-year-old from Kingston-upon-Hull had been on a day trip to that island. He was on his way back to Guernsey, where he and his wife Shirley, 51, had come for a seven-day visit.

He said he was told that porters had refused to push people in wheelchairs and that if he had got off the boat in the first place, he could get back on it without any help.

'When you are treated like that in this day and age, you feel anxious and stressed,' said the 63-year-old, who claimed the experience had left them upset for days.

The pair became increasingly desperate as they watched other passengers move to the waiting area, fearing they would be left behind in Jersey because the ship was running late.

The retired university lecturer and trained nurse were also told that the poor service was down to the fact that some staff had a poor grasp of English.

Condor offered Mr Catania a full apology on Friday morning. General manager Ian Milner said the company would like to reassure Mr Catania that it was fully investigating the incident to ensure any shortcomings in procedure were dealt with.

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