‘I’m completely lost’: Irish woman finds wheelchair damaged after flight to Amsterdam

A Co Kildare woman has been left with a damaged motorised wheelchair after travelling from Dublin to Amsterdam on a Ryanair flight last week.

While Niamh Ní Hoireabhaird, who is going to college in the Netherlands, fears the €1,500 compensation offered by the airline may not cover the cost of repairs to the motor and is having trouble getting it repaired. Ms Ní Hoireabhaird has been getting around in a manual chair pushed by her boyfriend which has left her “completely lost”.

Ms Ní Hoireabhaird found the wire connecting the motor to the wheels on her chair had been visibly damaged and the chair had become inoperable after landing at Amsterdam Schiphol airport.

Ms Ní Hoireabhaird’s flight was delayed leaving Dublin and landed in Schipol around 10pm. It was roughly 11.30pm by the time she made it to baggage claim after waiting for the airport’s mobility assistants.

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“The assistants took quite a while to come get me off the airplane ... when I got my wheelchair back it wasn’t working. The damage to the wire that connects the motor to the wheels was very visible ... the rubber casing is cut and the wires internally are also damaged.”

As her flight had arrived late at night the Ryanair desk at baggage claim in Schiphol was closed. “I wasn’t able to report that something had gone wrong ... the airport staff tried to help and fixed the problem but they couldn’t.”

Ms Ní Hoireabhaird said she found it difficult to submit a damage report to the airline the following day. “I couldn’t submit a report [online] because I hadn’t reported it in the airport. I got on to the special assistance taskbox on the Ryanair website.”

It is understood the special assistance services at Schipol airport are provided by a third party

Chat bot responses

Ms Ní Hoireabhaird tweeted about her experience dealing with the issue and expressed frustration with the Ryanair chat bot responses she received.

However she said a member of Ryanair’s special assistance team has since been in contact with her to offer an apology and compensation of some €1,500 in accordance with the Montreal Convention. This convention provides a global standards system for carriages of passengers, baggage and cargo in the event of losses, damages, delays, injuries or death and includes provisions for how much compensation can be offered.

“I’m very scared of having to replace the whole motor ... that would be upwards of €2,500. I’m hoping it would be as easy as replacing the broken wire but I’m not a technician.”

Ms Ní Hoireabhaird fears the compensation offered is not sufficient as she has struggled to find any suitable technicians in Amsterdam to repair the damage. She said her mother is now considering taking out a loan for a new chair and because of ongoing issues with finding someone willing to carry out the repair.

“I can’t seem to find anyone who’s able to carry out the repair [in Amsterdam]. I’m thinking it’s looking very likely I will have to take time off college to come home ... [The university] offered to cover taxis for me but I value my independence as a disabled person.”

If she is not able to find someone to repair the chair in the Netherlands, where she is now living to complete a Master’s degree, she will have to fly home to Ireland for the chair to be repaired by her regular technician in Co Kildare.

“I don’t want to spend my whole life sequestered in my apartment ... I’m completely lost, I’ve no idea what to do. My boyfriend is flying back to Ireland [on Sunday] ... I’m very much on my own here.”

In a statement issued by Ryanair, the company said that passenger baggage is handled by a third-party provider at Schiphol Airport – not by Ryanair.

“We regret that this passenger’s wheelchair was damaged during her travels from Dublin to Amsterdam and a member of our Special Assistance Team has been in contact with this passenger to assist with her complaint, which has now been resolved,” the statement said.