The sister of a disabled man said he felt “humiliated” and she cried after Ryanair denied them boarding because of the size of his wheelchair. 

Dorota Marah’s brother, Jarek, has been paralysed since 2024 and has required 24 hour care since then. 

It was only in January that he felt confident enough to travel internationally and the siblings booked a flight to Poland, where they grew up. 

Once there, Mr Marah was “delighted” to be back and see friends and family after so long. 

The pair decided to fly again and booked a return flight Ryanair for last week. 

On Lunchtime Live, Ms Marah recalled that they arrived three hours before the flight’s departure. 

“We were the last to be put on the plane,” she explained. 

“Obviously, for some reason, they had issues putting the chair in the cargo.

“The stewardess came and asked me, ‘Did you travel before with our airline?’ 

“I said, ‘Yes, we did in January.’

“Then she asked me, did we travel with that chair? I said, ‘Yes, we did’ -  I actually showed her the flight on my phone.” 

Jarek Marah.

At this point, the air stewardess went away to consult with her colleagues. 

When she returned, the siblings were given two options - leave the chair behind or get off. 

“My brother was obviously already upset,” Ms Marah said.  

“I said, ‘Okay, we will fly, I'll organise something, we'll rent some wheelchairs with neck support, I don't care.’

“I worked 10 years as a care assistant myself, I wanted him to be with his family.”

Jarek Marah.

After they were told they could not organise someone to collect his chair at a later date, Ms Marah realised that they would both have to get off the plane. 

“My brother was shocked because I started crying and I never cry,” she said. 

“He felt humiliated because everybody were waiting; it was an additional hour on the plane when they were trying to sort it out. 

“So, people were already delayed 40 minutes plus another hour.”

Ms Marah continued that since he became disabled, her brother “doesn't have much of enjoyment in his life” and that the whole experience was “very upsetting”. 

“I don't know what else we can do,” she said. 

“We're really fighting every day for him to have any joy in life and it would be nice for the staff to put themselves in his position.” 

The siblings have re-booked their flight and the new tickets have cost them €800. 

In a statement to Newstalk, Ryanair said a mistake was made during the booking process. 

“This passenger completed an “Electric Mobility Device” form to travel with his wheelchair on this Dublin to Wroclaw flight on 10 July but wrongly provided understated dimensions for his wheelchair,” a spokesperson said. 

“As a result, when the ground handlers at Dublin Airport were loading his wheelchair, they found it was too large to fit into the aircraft hold. 

“Should this passenger’s wheelchair have fit within the permitted dimensions for carriage in the aircraft hold (81 x 119 x 119 cms), he would have travelled on this flight with his wheelchair without issue.”

Main image: Dorota and Jarek Marah at the airport. Image: Supplied.