Original post from Disabled Go News
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The mum of a paralysed Cumbrian boy has hit out at Harrods after staff stopped him from using his wheelchair inside the shop.
Michelle Wall, known as Shelly, spoke after a security guard at the famous London store said her son Noah, who was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus (water on the brain), would not be able to take his wheelchair inside to visit the Disney Cafe.
He was being pushed in a buggy at the time, but Shelly, who lives in Abbeytown, said he was only in the pushchair because of the crowds and was desperate to be independent in his wheelchair. She was carrying it into the store.
The guard refused to accept it was a wheelchair though, despite Noah’s sister Steph trying to explain that it is the three-year-old’s lifeline as he is paralysed from the chest down.
The family left the Knightsbridge store in tears.
Scores of people have messaged the luxury department store on Twitter calling for an explanation and an apology, while a Facebook page has been shared thousands of times.
In a statement, Harrods said: “Harrods is very sorry to hear of Michelle Wall’s experience with her family at the Knightsbridge store on Monday, 22nd June, and we sincerely apologise for any offence or distress this incident has caused.
“Harrods would like to clarify that our security officer did not realise the item being carried by a member of Ms Wall’s party was in fact a child’s wheelchair. It was for this reason our officer asked for it to be stored in our left luggage department while the rest of the family went into the building.
“This was an unintentional error in judgement, and again we apologise for this.”
Read the full article online: http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/cumbrian-mum-s-anger-after-harrods-bans-son-s-wheelchair-1.1219669
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