Ireland’s Paralympic swimmer, Patrick Flanagan, criticised the Heathrow Airport authorities after his wheelchair was ‘destroyed’ on the way to the Tokyo Games. The 23-year-old, on Saturday, posted a note on Twitter with some pictures of his broken wheelchair. Flanagan had flown to London to catch a connecting flight to Japan for the Paralympics, which start on August 24.

“Yday, I landed in Heathrow on my way to Tokyo for the Paralympic Games. My chair was destroyed. My chair is my independence and to be left in an over sized airport chair is degrading,” he tweeted. 

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Along with the tweet, Flanagan posted a note explaining the situation. 

“When the plane landed I was given my wheelchair back, except it was completely broken. Ultimately the wheels have been damaged so much that they no longer spin, along with a lot of other dents and scrapes,” he wrote.

He further added that the staff at Heathrow were extremely apologetic. The airport responded to Flanagan’s tweet saying, “We are sorry to hear that your wheelchair was damaged in transit to Heathrow and understand how distressing this would have been. Once our teams were made aware of what had happened on arrival into Heathrow, they did their best to assist with your onward journey.”

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“We will work with the airline and the origin airport as a priority to investigate how the damage occurred and how it can be avoided in the future. Please do get in touch if we can be of any assistance with any future travel through Heathrow.”

Flanagan said that both the airline and baggage handlers need to pay more attention to chairs. 

“I was given an over sized airport wheelchair, filled out a claim form and sent on my way. I can barely push myself in this new chair and simple tasks like getting around my hotel room are extremely tough. And now I have to fly to Tokyo.”

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“This is not something that can happen to wheelchair uses. It’s unacceptable. Both airlines and baggage handlers need to pay more attention to chairs. My chair is my independence and takes months to be fitted and ordered. Mine is specifically sized to support my back, is lightweight so I can lift it into the car and is extremely sturdy. It would not be damaged easily,” his note read. 

Later in the day, the 23-year-old tweeted saying that he was having a replacement chair flown out. 

 “But not all wheelchair users are lucky enough to have a spare. The point remains the same, this should never happen!” he said.

Flanagan will swim in the S6 100m backstroke and 400m freestyle for Team Ireland.