Melissa Sotomayor, a mom to almost two-year-old Noah, took to social media this month to share her disturbing experience with United Airlines. She just wanted to ensure others heard her story. According to Sotomayor, Noah relies on a breathing tube, ventilator, and other medical devices due to his complex medical condition. Noah’s equipment was FAA approved, and she carried with her documentation from doctors that cleared him to fly. Nonetheless, the flight crew forced her to dislodge him from his breathing machine prior to take off during one flight from Tampa to Newark.
As the situation developed, a flight attendant tracked down Sotomayor once they were all seated on the plane. She was told to remove Noah from his ventilator and portable oxygen concentrator prior to takeoff.
“Once we got seated, a male flight attendant approached me and stated I needed to take my son off of the ventilator and the portable oxygen concentrator, because they need to be secure for takeoff,” Sotomayor shared in her TikTok video.
Sotomayor, clearly dissatisfied with the request, pushed back but stayed firm. She stressed that her son had been cleared to fly medically and traveled those additional United miles to Tampa without a problem.
“There is no problem. My son is medically cleared,” she asserted.
Her almost 10-minute TikTok video explaining the full story has been viewed over 1.3 million times. In that Facebook live video, she spoke candidly about her issues with United Airlines. She said that their accessibility department actually selected their seats, even after providing letters from doctors and other necessary documentation regarding Noah’s condition.
“The way you treated my son when we were attempting to fly home from Tampa to Newark was absolutely ridiculous,” she stated.
Because of the occurrence, the flight landed in Newark almost an hour late. It still isn’t clear if any compensation was offered to Sotomayor by United for the harrowing experience. Since then, the airline has apologized to her.
Sotomayor disclosed that the PR folks from United Airlines contacted her just days after the incident. She failed to report how they reached any conclusion. The crisis has garnered national outcry on social media, bringing light to the tenuous circumstances endured by families journeying with children that have medical complexities.
