A disabled 19-year-old teen has been denied entree to a train after the train conductor advised her that the space for disabled like her was being utilized, only to find out the exact reason was space and was occupied with Primark bags and suitcases. Paige Bartram shared that: 'I felt embarrassed like everyone was looking at me, I just wanted to go home I was freezing,' the Parent Herald has learned.
On Wednesday night, Nov. 23, Paige Bartram, a cerebral palsy casualty, and her family and some of her friends went to Leeds Christmas Market to do some shopping and to enjoy a day out. After they had enjoyed a fun shopping and day out, they decided to go home. So they went to Leeds Train Station to board a train. When they were about to board the train, the conductor stopped Bartram in front of roughly 50 commuters and told her that the area reserved for her was used.
The teen begged the conductor to let her in as she was freezing and have to get home. However, the conductor did not mind the teen and left her. "I was trying to tell the conductor that I was freezing. I said that I was so cold and I just needed to get home. He didn't even look at me in the eye," the teenager said according to The Northern Echo. The teenager was then forced to board the next train.
The teenager felt embarrassed and horrible. She said she doesn't like many people talking and looking at her and she also does not like new situations or people just like what happened to her in the train station.
However, the embarrassment of the teenager turned to annoyance when her friend who was on the train she was not allowed to enter too, sent her a photo showing the portion set aside for her wheelchair was jam-packed with shopping bags and suitcases. Kelly Bartram, the sister of the Paige, said that Paige was furious when she saw the picture.
The family of the teen filed an official complaint against the management of the train, according to the Mirror. The management said they would respond to the family as quickly as the investigations are settled. They also apologized to the teen and her family on what happened in the train station.
