Horrified mom says United Airlines demanded she remove disabled son’s ventilator before take-off: ‘So humiliated’
The things a mother will go through for her child.
A woman named Melissa Sotomayor was shocked at how United Airlines treated her disabled son on a recent flight home from Tampa, Florida to New Jersey.
Sotomayor took to TikTok — in a now viral video with over 1 million views — to share her very sad experience. She began the video explaining her son’s condition: “My son is dependent upon a trach, short for tracheostomy, and ventilator. He has vision and hearing problems.”
The mother went on to explain that in order to fly safely, she made sure to have all of her son’s medical documents ready to show — if necessary.
Sotomayor and her baby flew to Florida without a hitch — but it was on the way back that the trouble began. “A male flight attendant approached me and stated that I needed to take my son off the ventilator and the portable oxygen concentrator because they needed to be secured for takeoff,” she explained.
After explaining to the flight attendant that the equipment is what’s keeping her son alive, he then asked Sotomayor for documentation — which she provided for him.
One would think the story stops there — think again. Sotomayor explained in her video that two more flight attendants — and the captain — approached her with the same sentiment regarding the medical equipment.
From the sounds of it, the flight’s crew did not ease up on Sotomayor, despite her having proof that she is allowed to keep her son’s critical medical equipment on it.
“He’ll be okay until we’re in the air at a high enough altitude,” a cold United staffer told her. Seeing how adamant Sotomayor was being about her son’s situation, the crew warned her that she might need to move seats if she wasn’t willing to comply.
After being taxied for an hour, other fliers started to chime in, calling Sotomayor’s mistreatment by the airline staff “harassment.” Even more back and forth took place between the crew and the mother — and still, no apology to Sotomayor.
Finally, after what probably felt like forever — the captain announced that the plane was cleared for take-off.
“I was really upset by the way we were humiliated in front of others and the way we were talked to,” she shared in her video.
The cruel treatment didn’t end on that flight — Sotomayor escalated the situation to the United Airlines corporate level and they continued to stand their ground, telling her they don’t go against FAA guidelines.
The Post reached out to United Airlines for a comment.
You could imagine the uproar in the comment section of this mother’s video — with people furious to hear of Sotomayor’s disheartening experience.
“The fact that they thought taking your son off OXYGEN, and a ventilator for any amount of time, and he would be fine, is INSANE,” one person wrote.
“So we boycott united airlines? Seems like the only way we can get a point across these days is stop paying these people,” another comment read.
Others suggested that Sotomayor look into hiring a lawyer.
“Please please please retain an attorney that specializes in ADA. MAKE ALL THE NOISE. Nobody should have to go through this,” someone advised.
“the flight attendants are not allowed to ask you for any documentation. all of that is already provided prior to your boarding. lawyer up girl!” another commenter wrote.
