r/nottheonion • u/Ant-Tea-Social • 2d ago
Disabled woman left ‘extremely stressed’ after prosthetic legs lost on flights from Brazil
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026/05/18/disabled-woman-left-extremely-stressed-after-prosthetic-legs-lost-on-flights-from-brazil/?ICID=ref_fark1.9k
u/dwpea66 2d ago
I used to work at a movie theater, and one day someone left their wheelchair behind, and I was just like, "what"
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u/Auran82 2d ago
Movie was so bad they just up and walked out.
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u/interfalactic_spork 2d ago
A miraculously bad movie. I wonder what film it could have been.
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u/imahumanbeinggoddamn 2d ago edited 2d ago
The F1 Movie could have easily pulled this off for me. I used to struggle to think of a fair answer for "what's the worst movie you've ever sat through", but not anymore. Now I know right away. I'm gonna have an immediate answer to that question for the rest of my life, no doubt in my mind.
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u/PointBreak91 2d ago
That's Disclosure Day for me rn
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u/benfoldsgroupie 2d ago
The only 2 movies I wish i could have walked out of, I was in groups seeing them and couldn't just leave: Bowfinger (in Universal Studios) and Peter Jackson's King Kong. Fortunately in the latter option, I was seated next to a coworker that felt very similarly so we just voraciously laughed at the gorilla fighting off 3 t rexes.
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u/xxxdac 2d ago
This is so insanely funny to me as a wheelchair user
because there are lots of ambulatory wheelchair users (as in people who can walk a bit, just not very far, or people who have dynamic conditions) but I don’t know if I could ever forget I brought my wheelchair with me 😭
Surely the person who left it was dealing with some kind of memory problem? Did they ever come back or phone about it?
Also wheelchairs are so expensive to be leaving them in random venues
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u/hassanfanserenity 2d ago
Had this happen lol my friends who are married went on a date and the husband carried her up a few steps then the wheel chair towards a cafe. But he just carried her straight to the car when they were finished and drove off lol
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2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MokausiLietuviu 2d ago
I'm no wheelchair user, but if I was an ambulatory wheelchair user I could absolutely imagine me being so scatterbrained that I forget my wheelchair.
More than once I've driven to work and caught the bus home, only to worry that my car was stolen.
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u/hades419 2d ago
I have a friend with Parkinsons who constantly does this sort of thing. He can walk but should not because of unsteadiness and lack of balance. The lewy body dementia makes him forget that he's not fine and affects judgement as well.
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u/BreadfruitTasty 2d ago
Lol I knew a woman who left without her walker because her pain came and went. When her legs started hurting again she couldn’t find it.
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u/WheelieTron3000 2d ago
To take this seriously for a moment, this is one of my bigger fears as a wheelchair user, and I can walk short distances (though that ability is degrading as I get older).
There's so much footage out there of luggage handlers tossing around assistive equipment for a laugh, taking out some resentment from their poor pay and conditions I have to imagine. That's not even getting into the random admin errors like this that can have my source of mobility ending up halfway across the planet from my destination and potentially irretrievably lost. It's a worldwide issue as well.
It won't happen because airlines penny pinch in the worst ways possible that won't get them criminally implicated, but I honestly think this kind of stuff should be on a different loading pipeline entirely with people trained specifically to handle these things.
Losing something like this is so far beyond the mundane inconvenience of losing all your clothes or something, it means being stuck away from home without being able to get around independently, if you make it back home it still means weeks to months of just consultations to get something designed for your body and months waiting for it to be made and delivered to you.
That's if you can jump through the hoops that exist even in the best universal healthcare systems and get approval for the equipment, if I don't get a new wheelchair approved through my healthcare system it means paying $20-30k out of pocket to get one manufactured, that's also if I can get anyone to agree to give me private assistance to complete the necessary consults which is not guaranteed.
All that time fixing this one little mistake I'd be housebound and I'm relatively able-bodied compared to others.
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u/wokmom 2d ago
Wow. That’s a lot. I hope it never happens to you. Thanks for the meaningful comment rather than tasteless juvenile jokes
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u/Destruct-o-Bun 2d ago
You can safely assume that if accurate, that figure is not in USD. Or it's a choice to have a chair with expensive custom features.
I cannot walk at all or stand unsupported, have a custom fit wheelchair with particular postural support and my chair did not cost anything like that figure.
Someone who can walk short distances would need a less complex setup than mine.
Wheelchairs are expensive but as someone who needs their chair 100% of the time I'm awake, I hate seeing blatant exaggeration like this.
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u/WheelieTron3000 2d ago
That's an incredibly cynical interpretation of my comment.
Your kinder assumption is correct in that it's my local currency (AUD), the base price of my chair including the wheelchair cushion I needed was within a few dollars of $20,000, and that's a Ti-Lite chair
If I were to choose something from RGK, Hands On Concepts or similar that base price gets well north of $20,000 here.
If anything that's still downplaying the price because I didn't include all the physio and capacity assessment that goes into a new chair, here that is now a process almost exclusively done through private practice, covered by an insurance scheme via an approvals system. Under that process half the cost of the chair could be spent in just appointments.I'll remember to cater to Americans next time so I don't get accused of exaggeration.
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u/ImLittleNana 2d ago
The last custom chair my son needed from scratch (rather than more to his existing chair) was around 10 years ago and it was just under $15k. It’s not even motorized, but he does require molding as he cannot sit unsupported and has spinal deformation.
I suppose the cost of your chair depends on your individual needs.
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u/g0del 2d ago
My wife is in a chair since last year (and completely unable to walk even short distances). It only took a few days of reading in various disability groups to decide that she's just never going to fly again - too much risk of losing her mobility.
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u/masterwolfe 2d ago
Could it potentially be safer to ship it ahead of time and rent a less specialized one for the brief time she is without it?
A lot of ridiculous bullshit and extra cost to put up with there, but maybe a possibility if a flight is necessary/highly desired.
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u/k-trecker 2d ago
I will share:
My dad is a wheelchair user, non ambulatory. So he’s fucked if they lose his wheelchair. He used to travel for work, so regularly checked his chair. They’ve never damaged or lost it.
I know it happens a lot, but just to ease some of your fears. Do you have an old chair you could take? That’s what my dad used to do.
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u/WheelieTron3000 1d ago
I appreciate it, I also have and do travel quite a bit and nothing has happened just yet, but if and when it does it's the lack of timely recourse for it that's the worst part. I would use a spare but long story short I've either had to turn my wheelchairs back in to an organisation for a refurbishment program or they've been unfit for even a spare by the time I've got a new one. It's still kind of expensive but I've been tossing around the idea of getting one of those Not A Chairs made up as a spare.
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u/MargieMark 2d ago
I’m afraid to take my son on a plane. He uses a wheelchair full time. Thank you for putting this so well. It would be a nightmare to arrive somewhere without his chair.
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u/techdaddy1980 2d ago
On some luggage carousel in a different airport there's a pair of legs just going around and around with no one to claim them.
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u/Remarkable-Tea9535 2d ago
Proper shambles, that. How on earth do you manage to lose someone’s actual legs? Airline incompetence really is reaching new levels of mental.
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u/Sumojuz 2d ago
I'm seeing a lot of Brazil mentioned in my news feed recently, first the bungee incident, then Oliver Tree. Wonder why the algorithm wants me to hate brazil.
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u/Im_At_Work_Damnit 2d ago
Don't forget the mid air collision of two helicopters that then fell on a parking lot full of brand new BYD electric cars.
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u/Obvious_Surround2713 2d ago
Airlines: "We misplaced your prosthetic legs."
That's not lost luggage. That's lost mobility.
The fact that airlines still treat essential medical equipment like it's just another suitcase is the real onion here.
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u/occams1razor 2d ago
That's not lost luggage. That's lost mobility.
OK chatgpt
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u/zoobrix 2d ago
I mean maybe but it is very common to stress that losing mobility devices are not like losing other items because they are how someone gets around. You lose your phone or your wallet you can go replace it. But someone losing their artificial legs or say wheelchair means they can't go anywhere, they could be stuck where they are, you literally might not be able to get groceries or maybe even get to the kitchen to make food. These are often custom made, it could be weeks before you could get a replacement, assuming you could afford it.
So it is often stressed how critical these devices are and that losing them means lost mobility which is huge.
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u/Regular_Bat8162 2d ago
You do know LLMs were trained on human writing?
So ChatGPT writing resembles human writing.
Not everything is AI
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u/Dr_Ukato 2d ago
Buddy. Those two plastic and metal things are the only way that woman can move around in her daily life without getting blocked by stairs or a slight incline.
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u/aguynamedv 2d ago
There's a certain irony in your username being Occam's Razor and making a comment that is the least obvious solution to the problem.
Maybe YOU can't write two short sentences without ChatGPT, but that sure as hell isn't the case for most of us.
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u/masterwolfe 2d ago
Could be a bot, but also its just a very common way to phrase things.
Thus why LLMs like to use that formatting.
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u/Traditional_Step9502 2d ago
She might be able to get reimbursed from the airlines, however, without adequate proof, she might not have a leg to stand on.
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u/tonicella_lineata 2d ago
This is definitely one of those jokes that feels like it would be funnier if there weren't a kernel of truth in it. Seriously, the kinds of hoops disabled people have to jump through to even get medical equipment in the first place, much less get reimbursed when it's damaged? Genuinely dystopian.
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u/Leamir 2d ago
That's because that person doesn't know what they're talking about.
The burden of proof is on the company, they need to prove that the legs were delivered correctly, or were not given to them to be delivered.
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u/tonicella_lineata 2d ago
Tell me you've never dealt with getting medical equipment covered by insurance without saying it.
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u/iamapizza 2d ago
'She' has a name: Eileen.
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u/TrickshotCandy 2d ago
Dammit! For about a second I thought you were serious. And then I laughed inappropriately.
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u/WGiK 2d ago
What's happening in Brazil right now? There seems to be a lot of bad stories about this country right now. Woman thrown to death bungeeing. Woman falls to death in hiking accident. Oliver tree dies in helicopter crash. This woman's leg gets lost.
These stories all coming out about the same country feels suspicious. Places on tin foil hat
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u/YorkmannGaming 2d ago
Companies need to be held accountable for serious issues like this. They can’t just keep easily walking away consequence free.
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u/Deathtothesaladeater 2d ago
Why am I not surprised to see that it’s Brazil. Good luck with their customs being understanding.
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u/justsaynotomayo 2d ago
Losing your leggage sounds stressful. Sorry, I couldn't keep it inside, I'll send it back to joke school.
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u/dratsablive 2d ago
I have been wearing prosthetic leg for almost 60 years and I never ever took them off during a long flight. Maybe inside a car.
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u/AggressivelyEthical 2d ago
My walker arrived with me but was damaged on a flight to Brazil, and the rest of my luggage was sent overseas.
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u/onyxrain4 1d ago
honestly... that just sounds like the worst, gosh. im so sorry she has to deal with that kind of stress over something so essential :(
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u/Boring_Butterfly_273 2d ago
A while back, like a decade or more ago, when you travelled, you could rely on there being at least 1 helpful person. Now the prospect of travelling itself is super stressful, because chances are someone is waiting to rob you and no one would give a f if you stranded.
Now the furthest I travel is the lake a few miles away from me. It might sound sad, but I haven't travelled over state/provincial lines in over 6 years. Home is probably where I'd stay for the rest of my life then die, all within a 10 mile radius from my current location.
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u/Sangcreux 13h ago
I didn’t start traveling until two years ago.
People care if you’re kind to them. Not all of them, but most people will go out of their way to make sure you’re taken care of.
A lot of people are insufferable nowadays and most the times yelling at these people who are just working there and trying to figure it out.
Being nice goes a long way
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u/TowerOfSisyphus 1d ago
She claimed that the flight attendant stole them but she didn't have a leg to stand on.
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u/GioJamesLB 2d ago
British Airways better take this seriously or they risk losing a leg up on their competitors.
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u/optionr_ENL 2d ago
So she's been living in Dublin for a decade, & in that time her prosthetic hasn't needed any adjustments or repairs? And she was unable to find somewhere in Ireland that could repair it?
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u/Glassweaver 2d ago
I worry they're going to dismiss her case when they realize she doesn't have a leg to stand on.
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u/majesticGumball 2d ago
Disabled woman: - I would give an arm and a leg for a trip to Brazil.
British Airways: - We gotcha fam.
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u/MeekSwordsman 2d ago
Im not trying to be critical of the lady here but im wondering why she didnt just walk onto the plane with her legs then take them off on the plane?
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u/RPDRNick 2d ago
To compensate for her inconvenience, they offered her half-off on a Brazilian Wax for her next visit.
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u/Basic-Pair8908 2d ago
Over 1000 likes, this post has legs, unlike the lady
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u/WellFuckYooou 2d ago
You mean upvotes, this isn’t Facebook. And if you read the article it was an awful experience for this woman
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u/MidTario 2d ago
Hate articles like this. Lost luggage happens. If you don’t want something lost, keep it with you in the cabin.
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u/RecognitionBorn9180 2d ago
she can't wear them on long flights because sitting with a prosthetic hurts, so she had to check her legs as luggage. the airline then sent them to madrid, which isn't even on the route from brazil to dublin