Tanner, Boy With Muscular Dystrophy, Stranded After Wheelchair Damaged By Air Canada (UPDATE)

UPDATE 8/6: ABC News is reporting that Air Canada has replaced the wheelchair and brought it to the boy on Thursday afternoon.

"We're sorry this happened. We always try to deliver baggage safely but sometimes accidents do occur and it's particularly upsetting when it involves a mobility aid," Air Canada spokesman Fitzpatrick told ABC. "It's a terrible situation and all we can do is try and fix it as best we can, as quickly as possible."

It helped that Tanner's aunt Catherine is very active on Twitter, with 8,000 followers (she was here this weekend to attend BlogHer, a conference for female bloggers. She thanked the outpouring of support on the social network for helping rectify the situation.

"Air Canada is stepping up, making things right," she said. "And you guys have everything to do with it."

8/5:
Hundreds of people are headed to Twitter to defend a dying child whose wheelchair was lost by Air Canada, according to Techeye.net.

Tanner, a young boy, is suffering from muscular dystrophy. One of his dying wishes was to race through Central Park in a tutu with supporters. People headed to Twitter under the name #TutusForTanner to raise $25,000 in 30 hours for the event in New York, which was supposed to happen on Friday.

Tanner and his aunt, Catherine Connors, flew to New York on Air Canada on Wednesday to help fulfill his dream. When they arrived at La Guardia, however, it was discovered that his $15,000 wheelchair had been badly damaged during the flight, so he was unable to go anywhere until a replacement was found.

The airline promised a replacement quickly, but by Wednesday night still nothing had arrived. Catherine was then told that Air Canada could do nothing about the destroyed wheelchair until MONDAY.

So, Tanner and Catherine are in a New York City hotel room until a replacement can be found.

Outrage erupted on Twitter, mostly by those who had supported the trip in the first place and Air Canada has a looming PR nightmare on their hands. #TutusForTanner is now trying to find a replacement on their own.

Comments

[Donns]

12:57 PM on 08/06/2010

I couldn't care less anout Air Canada one way or the other, and maybe don't know all the facts and alligations here. I take it the problem was some sort of delay in getting the replacement on the part of Air Canada. Is it possible that this is not just an off the shelf item? I only say that because of the quoted price. Maybe they had a problem finding one - don't know. At least they did come through with one, couldn't see most USA Airlines coming through with one no matter what bad publicity they got.

[amoosefloats]

04:26 AM on 08/06/2010

Keep it classy Scare Canada

[Grant in Calgary]

12:49 PM on 08/06/2010

They suck. WestJet is the only way to fly in Canada.

[amoosefloats]

01:06 PM on 08/06/2010

Me too, Air Canada has abused me way too many times now

[saskatoonie]

01:51 AM on 08/06/2010

Whomever it was that told this family they had to wait until Monday to get the chair fixed should be disciplined!

[Mattie]

06:38 PM on 08/07/2010

sometimes people need special wheel chairs, and they have to be custom fitted, I know this from personal experience with a family member. A chair that isn't right for the user can cause them pain. So maybe they wanted to the right thing, who knows.

[saskatoonie]

06:54 PM on 08/07/2010

My daughter competes in wheelchair sports so I do know what I`m talking about........Air Canada has the money, connections and influence to get a child`s wheelchair fixed no matter how ``custom`` it is!

[MrsFonebone]

11:21 PM on 08/05/2010

One has to believe that NYC will come through. You can get anything there and the people always rise to the occasion.

[PlayTOE]

09:32 PM on 08/05/2010

Time for an update.
Air Canada did the very Canadian thing, they apologized and got to work fixing the problem.
The chair was fixed (Air Canada found an all night repair shop) then gave Tanner a free trip to Disneyland just to make him feel better ...
Now THAT is Canadian.

[verylargehat]

10:51 PM on 08/05/2010

That is very Canadian. I'm glad they did the right thing.

[PlayTOE]

11:33 PM on 08/05/2010

fanned. (33)

[Simon Andrews]

12:17 AM on 08/06/2010

... it's good AC did that, but what part of that response is "very Canadian"? Apologizing? Fixing the problem? And do you mean this response is a typical response to problems in Canada? (In my years of living in Canada, I found problems there often met with a "sorry, but there's nothing we can do about it" response.)

[henrypapillon]

11:16 PM on 08/05/2010

I'm glad they got that fixed. I am going to die someday of something. My dying wish is to have a night all to myself with 20 beautiful naked girls who will do anything I desire. But my dying wish is to have it take place now.

[PlayTOE]

11:36 PM on 08/05/2010

pssst .. henry ... save up for 20 hookers
... but try not to catch anything deadly off one of them.

[unimatrix0]

02:52 AM on 08/06/2010

Tell Air Canada they missed their connecting flight, who knows, you might all get a trip to Las Vegas to see them!

[YankeeCanuck]

07:20 PM on 08/05/2010

Air Canada found an all-night repair facility and the chair has been repaired and returned---PLUS a trip to Disney World for the boy and his cousins.
http://www.vancouversun.com/Disney+ending+Canada+lands+good+books+after+fixing+wheelchair/3364026/story.html

[BlueZoo]

06:24 PM on 08/05/2010

Can we hear a huge "Bravo!" for a company called Mobility Solutions in NYC who have replaced the wheelchair for this child? (No, I don't know the company but I did read the link!)

[neverdeadned]

07:11 PM on 08/05/2010

Thank god there are some decent people out there still

[jl4141]

05:11 PM on 08/05/2010

I say we declare war on Canada!

[Telemachus]

05:33 PM on 08/05/2010

Do they have oil?

[mech126]

06:04 PM on 08/05/2010

They sure do, and lots of it to...

[neverdeadned]

07:12 PM on 08/05/2010

They sure as hell have maple syrup thats good enough for me to invade

[Dhammi]

05:37 PM on 08/05/2010

Did you actually READ the whole article?

[beccasmecka]

07:06 PM on 08/05/2010

Do you have any sense of humour?

[SilverWolfSigil]

10:21 PM on 08/05/2010

This entire thread line is a running joke. Funny is in the eye of the beholder.

[SF TKF]

03:16 PM on 08/05/2010

Thank goodness SOMEONE helped this kid. It's outrageous that it wasn't Air Canada however. I've only ever flown them once (to London) and I'll never make that mistake again!

[ZenCrusader]

06:14 PM on 08/05/2010

I've flown Air Canada many dozens of times and find them better than most US carriers.

[zanzig]

09:04 PM on 08/05/2010

Ditto.

[henrypapillon]

11:19 PM on 08/05/2010

Maybe, but they won't hold you prisoner for 4 hours on a hot plane like U.S. airlines.

[Akimbo]

02:32 PM on 08/05/2010

Air Canada once again living up to its reputation, "we're not happy until you're not happy."

[heshmalesh]

07:07 PM on 08/05/2010

ahahahaha brilliant

[lastplaceman]

02:16 PM on 08/05/2010

Too late HuffPo, a solution has already been found:

http://dannybrown.me/2010/08/05/air-canada-nonlesson-from-united-airlines/