American Airlines turned around a flight and reportedly kicked off a two-year-old asthmatic boy and his mother and grandmother because the child could not wear a face mask properly when he allegedly had an asthma attack.
Amanda Pendarvis, her two-year-old son Waylon, and her mother were allegedly kicked off AA Flight 1284 on Monday, because Waylon, who has asthma, was having an attack and could not maintain the mask on his face properly as a result. Pendarvis described it on Instagram as the “most humiliating/traumatizing experience,” because of the actions of the flight attendant, who she named Carl and described as “truly evil [and] power tripping.”
In upsetting footage posted to Instagram by Pendarvis, her son can be seen crying and not wanting to wear the mask due to his inability to breathe. According to the mother, despite showing the American Airlines attendant his negative COVID test, and informing him that he has asthma, the flight attendant “did not care” that Waylon was “literally hyperventilating.”
As a result, the plane was turned around and the family was escorted off by police officers. “I was not refusing a mask, nor did I even say I wouldn’t try to keep a mask on my son,” Pendarvis confirmed.
Despite the flight attendant announcing the incident to the whole plane, describing her son as a “non-compliant traveler,” the majority of passengers did not speak up about what was happening, she added. “There was one man behind us who was standing up to [the flight attendant] telling him how [insane and irrational] he was being,” Pendarvis wrote, adding that several other passengers mouthed “I am sorry.”
The story gained greater attention when Twitter user Tiger Lily tweeted screenshots of what Pendarvis posted on Instagram.
“The only thing that covid has done to society is remove people of their compassion,” she wrote. “Hospitals making mothers give birth alone, children being taken, babies being kicked off flights, families turning against each other. I won’t make nice with these people. Not anymore.” Responses to the tweet were mostly of shock and anger, including many calls for Pendarvis to sue American Airlines.
This is an excerpt from the National File.
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