Denied wheelchair, 82-year-old woman lands in ICU; Air India reacts

New Delhi: Even as the world celebrates International Women’s Day, an 82-year-old woman who was allegedly denied a wheelchair by Air India officials at the Delhi airport suffered a fall and is currently under observation in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a Bengaluru hospital.

The woman Raj Pasricha, the widow of a Lieutenant General, on her way to Bengaluru, suffered a fall after walking for a long distance at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, as the airline failed to provide her with a wheelchair that was pre-booked.

Taking to social media platform X, Parul Kanwar, the granddaughter posted that her grandmother “has been in the ICU for two days and the left side of her body is losing strength”.

“I post this because I have no choice and because it infuriates me that there is such little value for human life and wellbeing. Air India, you treated my grandmother so poorly, and with such little regard. You should be ashamed,” Kanwar said.

Narrating the incident, she stated that upon reaching the airport, they were not allocated a wheelchair for “almost an hour”, following which the senior citizen had to walk a considerable distance. But she fell near a counter of the airline, leaving her with a bleeding lip and injuries to her head and nose.

“Not one person stepped in to help. We requested someone to help get first aid – no help,” said Kanwar, noting that they even tried to seek help from “Indigo, who incidentally had a free wheelchair but won’t share”.

After suffering the fall, Pasricha was not even provided first aid. And then, when the wheelchair finally arrived, the elderly woman was made to board the plane without a proper checkup.

The cabin crew administered her with ice packs and informed the Bengaluru airport for medical assistance.

Denying the allegations, Air India in a statement said the senior citizen “had arrived at the departure terminal much later than the recommended 2 hours before departure”.

“Due to the unprecedented peak demand at that hour, a wheelchair could not be made available within the 15 minutes that the passenger’s relatives spent waiting for it. The claims of the passenger having waited for an hour for the wheelchair are baseless”.

While calling the fall of the woman “unfortunate” the airline noted that the “airport doctor on duty immediately attended to her and administered first aid”.

The airline added that “additional medical attention was not accepted” by the woman, but “Air India staff were courteous, escorted them from immediate check-in through to priority security check and boarding”.

“At no point was the wheelchair or any assistance denied to the passenger. Air India’s staff cooperated with the guests through their journey,” said the airline.

IANS