Paralympic iconTanni Grey-Thompsonconfessed to having been the subject ofonline abuseafter sharing her experience of being forced to“crawl off”a train at King’s Cross station in London.
The athlete arrived at the station after 10 pm, and no assistance was provided for her to disembark the train, leaving her in the awkward position of having to wait for someone to come and help or crawl off.
Grey-Thompson would later voice her frustration on X, saying she waited for 16 minutes before taking matters into her own hands, criticizing the lack of support from the London North Eastern Railway (LNER).
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Image credits:tanni.co.uk
The athlete recounted her experience in an interview withThe Guardian:
“I got down on the floor, pushed my bags andwheelchairoff the train, and then climbed down myself. I started shouting on the platform, but there was no one around. I have a pretty loud voice – I can scream across a 400m track.”
“At 22:17 (the train arrived at 22:02) I decided to crawl off. I had to move all my belongings onto the platform. A cleaning staff member offered to help, but they’re not insured,” readsone of the posts.
Image credits:LNER
David Horne, the managing director of LNER, got ahold of her messages and later offered his apologies, acknowledging on a reply post: “Something clearly went wrong, and we let you down. We’ll investigate what happened and share the details.”
“Entitled?” read one reply.
“What, did you forget your carer?” asked another.
“To the ableist people who have said I should stay at home, not work, not expect to travel on a bank holiday, not travel on my own… Ummm not happening,” she replied.
Image credits:Tanni_GT
“He apologized, but so what? They’re nice people, but that doesn’t change much.”
The baroness also believes the apology is not entirely honest and was done mainly as an effort to save face due to her high profile.
“They’ll look into it because it’s me. But what about everyone else who isn’t me? That’s what angers me the most.”
Image credits:Jamie Squire/ALLSPORT
In her interview, the Paralympian also revealed that a number of officials at the Department of Transportation acknowledged the situation and want to hold a meeting with her to discuss the issue as soon as she returns from Paris.
“This is about dignity for disabled passengers. When are they going to address level boarding on trains?” she continued, explaining that the implementation of the measure was originally mandated in the 90s but has yet to be carried out fully.
Her problems are not limited to this one experience, however, as two years ago, she had to crawl off a train at Euston. Just a week before the recent incident, she was told she couldn’t board a train to Aylesbury due to the staff “not being trained to use a disabled ramp.”
The Baroness won 11 gold medals as a wheelchair competitor and successfully transitioned into television before being made a member of the House of Lords
Image credits:John Stillwell – PA Images/PA Images
Afterward, she retired with 16 medals in total, 11 of which were gold, and she became a television presenter onBBC WalesandS4C, as well asBBC One.
Her parliamentary career began in March 2010, when she was conferred her full title of Baroness Grey-Thompson of Eaglescliffe. She swore the oath of allegiance in both English and Welsh and became anofficial memberof the House of Lords.
Grey-Thompson is also a detractor of Scottish independence, as she was one of 200 public figures whosigned a letteropposing the motion toThe Guardianin the run-up to the 2014 referendum on that issue.
The 2024 Paralympics are underway and feature 549 events across 22 sports. The games will be held until its closing ceremony on September 8
Image credits:Paralympics
The incident occurred just a day before the2024 Summer Paralympicsopening last Wednesday (August 28,) which will last until September 8, 2024, and will be host to 549 events across 22 sports.
This year’s edition of the event also marks the debut of countries like Eritrea, Kiribati, and Kosovo, as well as the return of Bangladesh, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, East Timor, Macau, Myanmar, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turkmenistan, all of which were absent from previous versions.
Viewers can catch the event in full throughOlympic Broadcasting Services(OBS), which will provide live coverage for all 22Paralympicsports. This is in addition to local channels that have bought the rights to the show, like France’sChannel 4and Canada’sCBC Sports, among others.
Image credits:John Phillips/Getty Images
“You commentating from the Paralympics in Paris is the best riposte to them. So I’m looking forward to hearing from you and watching the games!”
“Stuff ’em – every time you leave your home to go to work, to visit a school, to attend the Paralympics you are changing the world,” another stated.
“Sorry that you’re receiving abuse for your experience, Tanni. I’ve been in numerous situations before where nobody has come with the ramp to get me off,” one fellowwheelchairuser wrote.
“Sorry to hear about your horrible experience. Thanks for all the campaigning you do. Definitely don’t stop,” said another.
“I just want the same miserable commuting experience as everyone else. I’m not asking for a gold-plated carriage,” she said jokingly.
“The lack of empathy is frightening,” one user wrote as others joined in to offer their support to the Paralympian
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