Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson recalls dragging herself off train as staff nowhere to be found
Tanni-Grey Thompson recalls dragging herself off train as staff nowhere to be foundSource: BBC Radio 4
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00When I got into King's Cross, no one there to meet me. I waited five minutes before I put
00:04anything on social media, because you're meant to leave five minutes. But after 16 minutes of
00:12sitting at King's Cross, no one in sight. There were a couple of cleaners, but they're not insured
00:17or able to help me off. I decided that I'd crawl off the train. So I'm going to Paris later today.
00:24I've got a few bags. I had to chuck them on the platform, get out of my chair, sit on the floor
00:28right by the door, which is not particularly pleasant, and then crawl off. Just to be clear
00:34for those who don't know how this works, did you book assistance in advance? And do you generally
00:38have to do that? And generally speaking, do people turn up and assist? So disabled people have a
00:44legal right to turn up and go. So I had booked assistance, but I hadn't made that train. So
00:48legally, I am allowed to turn up and ask to get on a train. So my view is once somebody has put
00:54me on a train, I have a contract, which means somebody should meet me at the other end.