LI woman loses 'freedom' when custom wheelchair goes missing after flight

A Port Jefferson Station woman with cerebral palsy says she's been stripped of her independence after her $6,000 motorized wheelchair went missing last week following her American Airlines flight home to New York — and it could take at least three months to replace the personalized device.

Victoria O'Brien, who celebrated her 25th birthday Tuesday, has been stuck using an old manual wheelchair that she said no longer fits her body since her wheelchair disappeared after landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport on May 4. 

Since then, she's hardly left the house and is trying to figure out how to get by until the wheelchair is replaced.

"I just want American Airlines to understand that it's not luggage and that a wheelchair is a disability person's freedom," O'Brien said. "They are not understanding that I can't get this replaced easily. That is my lifeline. I haven't been able to see my friends or any of my family since I've been home for the last week. I've been isolated because of the fact that I don't have my chair."

O'Brien's dilemma is typical of the kind of problems that can arise for people with disabilities trying to negotiate air travel.

Chris Rosa, president and chief executive of the Albertson-based Viscardi Center, a nonprofit network serving Long Islanders with disabilities, said air travel is "fraught with barriers and risk" for individuals requiring the use of a wheelchair.

A graduate student at the University of Arizona studying public administration, O'Brien flew home after finals last week. 

Once all of the passengers disembarked, O'Brien, who has required the use of a wheelchair since age 13, was brought to the jet bridge to retrieve her wheelchair, which had been stored under the plane.

But O'Brien said she learned from the airline employee who helped her off the plane that an as-yet unidentified female passenger on her flight was last seen in her wheelchair being pushed by a man through the terminal. 

O'Brien waited nearly four hours at the baggage claim hoping the chair would be returned while her father scoured the parking lot to see if it had been abandoned. 

"My chair is custom for me," said O'Brien, who plans to file a police report. "It's not your average American Airlines wheelchair. It has my name on it. I'm a very tiny person. I'm only 5'1. So it fits to my body completely."

Since she returned home, O'Brien has been using a seven-year-old manual wheelchair that has no brakes, loose wheels and no longer fits her frame.

Insurance won't cover a replacement chair because the device is less than a year old and building a new custom-made wheelchair takes at least three months, she said.

American Airlines said they've begun the process of ordering a new replacement wheelchair for O'Brien and offered her a temporary manual wheelchair to use in the meantime.

“We have been in touch with Ms. O’Brien to apologize and offer assistance following reports that her wheelchair was taken from the jet bridge while customers from American Airlines Flight 2339 were deplaning at John F. Kennedy International Airport," the airline said in a statement. "Our team has opened an investigation into the reported issue and is actively working to learn more.”

Airlines, Rosa said, too often treat wheelchairs as luggage that is commonly lost or damaged. Meanwhile, bathrooms on planes are rarely accessible, forcing many passengers with disabilities — including O'Brien — to dehydrate themselves to avoid needing to use the facilities.

"In many respects, when you check your bags curbside you feel as if you're also checking your rights as a person with disabilities," said Rosa. "Once you enter an airport space and leave your access to travel to the airlines, in many instances you're left feeling very compromised in terms of equal access to air travel — and in some cases your safety."

O'Brien starts a job next week at a Southampton camp for youth with disabilities, where she'll live on campus and will need to travel significant distances throughout the day.

Without her personalized chair, she said the job will be a challenge but she doesn't want to miss out on the opportunity.

O'Brien said she hopes the airline understands what the chair meant to her and takes steps to better protect the devices in the future.

It's "my independence, my lifeline and my freedom," O'Brien said. "And everything that I can do for the next few months."

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.