Ryanair has been forced to apologise for making an autistic child have a Covid test, despite him being exempt. The event was captured in a harrowing video that has been shared online.
MailOnline has the story.
The airline said it “regrets” the “stress” caused to Callum Hollingsworth, 12, when he tried to board a plane from Valencia in Spain to Britain.
Footage shows the “petrified” child… in tears as staff debate which nostril to prod the swab up.
An employee, wearing a face covering, asks him “do you prefer this one” as she points to his left side. He replies: “No, not when it goes all the way up.”
Callum, from Harlow, Essex, then bursts into tears and shouts “no” as he hides his head in his hands.
A man recording the video says: “A child with ADHD and autism refused a Ryanair flight even with a GP letter stating exemption. Not good enough for Ryanair.”
The youngster’s mother Katy later told the BBC: “They said if you don’t have a Covid test you can’t go home, so we had no choice.”
Callum first took a Covid test in January but it was a “nightmare” so he was granted a medical exemption letter by his doctor.
He took another one before he flew out to Spain, but Ms Hollingsworth said it took a two-month build up for him to do it.
She said she had wanted to take his son to his “happy place” in Spain after he struggled during lockdown.
But she said he was horrified when they were told he would have to have another test to get back to England – even though she showed the GP’s letter.
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