An Irish-owned airline company is now apologizing for allegedly forcibly giving a 12-year-old autistic boy a COVID-19 test just so that he could board a flight back to his home in the United Kingdom. All of this occurred even though the boy had an exemption from his doctor!
Ryanair is the airline carrier, and they had to issue a letter of apology after an alleged incident where 12-year-old autistic boy Callum Hollingsworth was forcibly subjected to the test, which they claimed was necessary in order for him to board the plane. He was flying home with his family from Spain to the United Kingdom.
Hollingsworth also noted that her son was forcibly subjected to a coronavirus test in January, and that had been “a nightmare” and that is why the boy’s mother had requested an exemption from their doctor in order to avoid any future issues.
Even though the mother presented Ryanair with the exemption letter, they still insisted on the boy being forcibly subjected to the COVID-19 test.
Hollingsworth was interviewed by the BBC in regards to this incident, and she said that her son, who also has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ultimately “lost it” and he went through a “meltdown because he thought it was his fault.”
“He started hitting the chair and then started hitting himself,” she told the British news outlet. “The staff were just ignoring us. All they kept saying was ‘It’s not our problem.'”
“My husband then had to physically restrain my son with two members of staff to try to get him to have a test,” Hollingsworth continued. “Callum tried to be brave but he was petrified.”
“They said if you don’t have a COVID test you can’t go home, so we had no choice,” Hollingsworth claimed.
The boy’s father recorded a video of the incident, and it clearly shows members of the Ryanair staff trying to coax the visibly distraught child into agreeing that he should take the nasal swab COVID test.
“Ryanair fully complies with EU and government travel restrictions, which are constantly changing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the airline’s statement said. “We continue to make improvements and implement procedures to ensure the health and safety of our passengers and our crew is prioritized while complying with each country’s government guidelines at all times.”
Interestingly enough, here is the guidance for individuals returning from Spain back to the United Kingdom: “Everyone aged 11 or over will still have to take a private test within three days before returning – the UK government says this should preferably be a PCR test.”
Callum had struggled tremendously with the COVID lockdowns, so the family had taken him to his “happy place” in Valencia, Spain.