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Sophie Morgan: British Airways will pay for wheelchair repairs

The Loose Women star said her Batec was not working when she picked it up after leaving the plane.

Charlotte McLaughlin
Saturday 10 June 2023 15:46 BST
Sophie Morgan said she will have a meeting with BA (Matt Alexander/PA)
Sophie Morgan said she will have a meeting with BA (Matt Alexander/PA) (PA Archive)

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Sophie Morgan said British Airways has told her it will pay for damage to her wheelchair equipment, after a flight with the airline.

The Loose Women star said her Batec, described as an attachment for a wheelchair which turns it into a mobility hand bike, was not working when she picked it up after leaving the plane.

In an Instagram clip to her stories on Saturday, the presenter, 38, said: “British Airways have said they are going to pay for any repairs or replacements that I need, because there’s an electric fault that’s happened.

“I don’t know how yet, I haven’t got to the bottom (of it but) I’m grateful for that… So, all things considered, it could be a lot worse, but it just shouldn’t be the case in the first place.”

She added there needs to be a “greater kind of commitment” from airlines to make sure there is action that prevents damage and goes further then “apologies and compensation”.

Morgan, who has also presented Crufts, the Paralympics, The One Show and Dispatches, said it is not the first time it has happened to her.

She said she will have a meeting with BA, which was already set for Monday before this incident, to discuss the issue.

The presenter, who was paralysed from the chest down in a car crash when she was 18, said: “I’m going to do everything I possibly can to try and make the situation better. ”

She had described the Batec as “not working” on Friday following a flight with BA.

Morgan said: “I honestly don’t think I can actually take much more of this. I was just told to put a complaint in through the website again.

“Thankfully I know that’s not what I’m meant to do, but I’ve had no sleep, I’m absolutely exhausted.”

Celebrities including The Sex Lives Of College Girls actress Lauren Spencer and presenter Katie Piper said they were “sorry” this happened to Morgan.

A spokesman for BA said: “We’re really sorry for our customer’s experience and are in direct contact with her to resolve the issue as we investigate what happened.”

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