Southampton Airport stops woman over fake leg
02.11.06
A woman has claimed Southampton airport officials asked her to remove her artificial leg to prove she needed to take medication on board a plane, the BBC reports.
Vicki Gilbert was stopped as she tried to catch a flight to Leeds from Southampton Airport because she was carrying cream she needs for her artificial limb. Creams were banned from flights after August's terror alert and a note from Ms Gilbert's doctor was not accepted.
Ms Gilbert, 31, had her leg amputated in 1996 after she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer. She later received £1.2m in damages. She regularly travels to Hampshire for appointments with a prosthetic limb specialist. She said she could not understand why she was stopped as she had never had any problems taking the cream on flights in the past.
After refusing to take off her artificial limb the pilot agreed he would carry Ms Gilbert's creams in the cockpit and she would have to ask for them if she needed them.
Last month Southampton Airport won an award for its accessibility to disabled customers. A spokesman said Ms Gilbert has been invited to discuss her concerns with the airport management.
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