Frank Gardner was covering terrorism in Saudi Arabia for the BBC News in 2004 when Al Queda gunmen shot him six times. His colleague, a cameraman, died in the shooting. Gardner was left paralyzed, with other bullet wounds in his shoulder and leg. After his recovery, the journalist continued his commitment to war correspondence and covering Middle Eastern conflicts for the BBC. This week, Garnder is making international headlines himself after he took to social media and published an article regarding discrimination he suffered on an airplane. LOT Polish Airlines refused to allow a wheelchair on board his flight from Warsaw to London.

Established in 1928, the airline is Poland’s largest and one of the oldest airlines in the world. However, it seems it hasn’t caught up with modern accommodations for disabled passengers.

The journalist says the airline refused to provide Gardner, who cannot walk, with a wheelchair on board. To use the plane’s facilities, the journalist felt forced to drag himself down the aisle, across the dirty cabin floor.

“Wow. It’s 2024 and I’ve just had to crawl along the floor of this LOT Polish airline to get to the toilet during a flight back from Warsaw as “we don’t have onboard wheelchairs. It’s airline policy”. If you’re disabled and you can’t walk this is just discriminatory,” Gardner captioned to X post.

For those wondering about U.S. accommodations, the United States Department of Transportation welcomes assistive devices on flights, including crutches and wheelchairs. Passengers can store them in the overhead compartments, under the passenger’s seat, or in a designated stowage area.

Unfortunately, the airline refused to accommodate even compact wheelchairs before this flight. In fact, it’s general practice at the company to refuse them on board. After Gardner posted his photo on social media and published an article lamenting the incident on BBC News, LOT Polish Airlines publicly apologized for the inconvenience and claimed it was working on a solution for disabled passengers.

In the meantime, Frank Gardner says, “Won’t be flying LOT again until they join the 21st century.”

You can watch a 2008 profile on Gardner released shortly after his recovery and return to BBC News below.