Mansfield wheelchair user 'forced to wet himself' when three buses fail to stop

A Mansfield student says he was left 'humiliated' when he was forced to wet himself when he was left waiting for a bus for an hour.
Stagecoach East Midlands operate the Pronto serviceStagecoach East Midlands operate the Pronto service
Stagecoach East Midlands operate the Pronto service

Ryan McDade, 20, was passed by three Pronto bus drivers on Friday, October 4, while he waited at a bus stop in Nottingham Road, Mansfield, to return to Portland College where he is a full time resident.

Mr McDade said he felt "dehumanised" by the drivers and that the experience was "humiliating".

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Stagecoach East Midlands, who operate the service, said that all staff have received extensive disability awareness training, and they would speak to the drivers involved.

Despite having a thick skin, Mr McDade described the experience as "disgusting".

The musical theatre student said: "It's sad to say but I am used to these sorts of things.

"This is the first time I've had a point blank refusal.

"Initially two buses drove past, but the third stopped and opened the doors to say 'no, no, no'."

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Mr McDade had visited a supermarket for ingredients for his dinner, and was accompanied by a carer and another wheelchair user.

He suggested the other wheelchair user get the first bus that came along, due to limited spaces.

However, after his friend left, three Pronto buses drove by Mr McDade.

"When the second bus passed and I could see there was no one in the wheelchair space, I got frustrated.

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"After the third refused me, we had been waiting an hour and half and I wet myself.

"There was another lady at the bus stop but luckily no one else. It was very humiliating."

A fourth bus finally stopped for Mr McDade and he was able to get back to the the college.

After the incident Mr McDade's mum, Gail McDade received an apology in which Stagecoach East Midlands said it would be looking at CCTV and speaking to their drivers.

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Mr McDade added: "It's 2019. I don't think services should be able to get away with this anymore but people have got to speak up.

"My mum has been amazing throughout, and the support has been overwhelming."

A spokeswoman for Stagecoach East Midlands said: "We want all customers, including people with specific mobility requirements to feel welcome and able to use our services with confidence.

"All of our staff have extensive disability awareness training and we are very disappointed that Ryan was let down on this occasion, this must have been a distressing experience for him.

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"We are carrying out an investigation into what happened, which includes checking the CCTV and speaking to the drivers involved.

"We have also spoken directly to Ryan's mother to apologise, and our operations manager will be meeting both her and Ryan to discuss how we can improve his experience of using our services in the near future."

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