Vito Rizzuto wanted his last trip with his wife, Sheila, to be perfect.
Earlier this year, Sheila, who is 55, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. She began using a wheelchair after undergoing surgery in February to remove the tumour. When Sheila’s condition worsened in recent months, the couple decided to book a trip.
But instead of the getaway they dreamed of, an incident disembarking from their Air Canada flight from Toronto to Miami on Nov. 5 left Sheila badly injured and in severe pain for days.
Upon landing in Miami, staff transferred Sheila from her seat into an aisle chair — a narrow wheelchair to assist passengers off planes. But Rizzuto said staff appeared confused about how to properly operate the chair’s restraints.
Once on the loading bridge, Rizzuto was talking to an Air Canada representative about locating Sheila’s personal wheelchair, when she suddenly fell off the aisle chair onto the floor.
“They did not put the armrests down. They did not put the seatbelts on her,” said Rizzuto.
“My first instinct was I grabbed her and lifted her to get her off the floor because she was screaming. She was in shock. I can just imagine how much pain she was in, lying there.”
Rizzuto said the fall left Sheila in tears, bruised and bleeding on the ground. She suffered a cut on her leg, a sprained ankle, and bruising on her leg, arm, lower back and hip, as well as severe pain in her ribs.
“We hung around the pool, but she was in so much pain that she wasn’t enjoying herself. She was in pain. She was depressed. She was crying a lot,” said Rizzuto.
“This did not have to happen to her. And put her through more pain than she’s already in because of the state of the cancer.”
Apology from airline
Rizzuto said an Air Canada respresentative apologized to them over the phone, and offered them $500 in Air Canada flight credits. But he said after his initial conversation with the airline, his efforts to communicate with them went unanswered.
In a statement, Air Canada said, “While leaving the aircraft in Miami, the customer unfortunately sustained an injury from a fall while being transferred to her wheelchair. This matter is concerning and is now being reviewed by our claims department.”
“Our preliminary review of the event indicates that the customer’s spouse did not want our agent to touch his wife in the manner required to secure the belt. The use of this belt would have likely prevented the injury.”
Vito Rizzuto said he was “shocked” at the statement from the airline, saying he never told staff not to assist Sheila.
Rizzuto also said problems began prior to departure from Toronto. Sheila was not offered an aisle chair and had to make her way to her seat in row 21 by herself. Rizzuto said because Sheila only became a wheelchair user in May, they didn’t know an aisle chair was an option.
“It surprised me they wouldn’t have offered that option to us,” he said.
In response, Air Canada said, “Our teams were assisting other customers, and by the time they arrived at the aircraft, the customer had boarded without using the aisle chair. “
Series of incidents
The Rizzutos’ experience in Miami follows a string of high-profile incidents on Canadian airlines that resulted in passengers in wheelchairs being injured.
In November 2023, Air Canada’s CEO was summoned to Ottawa by the federal transport minister after the stories became public.
In late August 2023, Rodney Hodgins, who has cerebral palsy, was forced to drag himself off an Air Canada flight in Las Vegas when he was told no wheelchair assistance was available. In May of that year, Ryan Lachance, who has spastic quad cerebral palsy, was dropped and injured by Air Canada staff while attempting to disembark a flight in Vancouver, after crew declined to use an eagle lift.
At the time, Air Canada said it would be fast-tracking a series of changes to make its airline more accessible, including improving training for airline staff. But a recent CBC Marketplace hidden camera investigation documented the airline falling short of multiple announced improvements.
Rizzuto said he and Sheila are not looking for financial compensation from the airline but hope their story can force change and prevent others from becoming injured.
“I’m not looking for anything from Air Canada other than rectifying their procedures, making things better, training their staff better, and hiring better companies that assist with people [getting] on and off the plane.”
Despite the setback of the Miami trip, the Rizzutos say they are hopeful they’ll be able to embark on one last trip together for the holidays.
A woman living with terminal cancer says she became severely injured on an Air Canada flight after airline staff failed to secure her to a wheelchair. This comes after a series of CBC News stories about accessibility challenges on that airline. As Michelle Ghoussoub reports, the couple is coming forward, saying they don’t want anyone else to experience what they’ve gone through.