‘Coachable moment’: Blind Canadian Paralympian removed from cruise ship
Global News
Swimmer Donovan Tildesley was the flag bearer for Canada at the 2009 Paralympics, and told Global News he's travelled extensively solo.
A blind B.C. man and Paralympian who was removed from a cruise ship on Sunday says the incident is a “coachable moment” for the travel industry.
Swimmer Donovan Tildesley was the flag bearer for Canada at the 2009 Paralympics, and told Global News he’s travelled extensively solo.
So he was surprised when after checking in aboard the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady‘ on Sunday he was told the vessel couldn’t accommodate him.
“So I’m sitting at the patio bar … and I’m barely done my second drink when two people from the ship come up to me and basically say we’ve got some bad news.”
“We’ve determined as a person who is blind and is travelling alone there are some safety issues we’re not going to be able to accommodate, so you need to end the cruise now and get off the ship.”
Tildesley said the crew arranged for him to return to a Miami hotel, still struggling to understand what had happened.
He was particularly mystified as his travel agent had communicated in writing that he was visually impaired and travelling on his own.
“I thought it was a joke at first. Really? Something like this is happening in 2022, with a company that’s as progressive as Virgin claims to be?” he said.
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