The first quadriplegic sailor to cross the Atlantic solo has described his anger at being prevented from boarding a train by a guard who told him that his electric wheelchair would damage the floor.
Geoff Holt, 45, told how he was left with "a sense of genuine rage" following the incident on the platform beside an Isle of Wight train, where he said that the guard suggested that he was a liar and cut his leg when he eventually threw down a ramp for him to board.
The unnamed guard has now been suspended pending an investigation into the incident involving the Island Line's three-minute Ryde Pier to Ryde Esplanade service, according to its operators Stagecoach Group. British Transport Police also said they were investigating.
Holt, an ex-professional yachtsman who was paralysed in a swimming accident in 1984, wrote on his blog about the events of last Saturday: "I can't recall the last time that I was so angry and upset. I was physically shaking, emotion choking my voice, a sense of genuine rage.
"So why the rage? Quite simply, a guard on the train, specifically 'Guard 1003' as he reluctantly identified himself when pressed, refused to let me board the 4.45pm train – the same journey I had made nine hours earlier.
"Why? To quote guard 1003, pointing at my wheelchair, 'Those things aren't allowed on these trains, they will damage the floors'.
. I couldn't quite believe what I heard and asked him to repeat it, which he did."
"Reminding myself this was 2012, not 1912, this was public transport and this was the year the Paralympics were coming to Britain, the red mist was descending."Expanding his fictional list of reasons why I could not travel, he then said, if he got me on this train, there was no guarantees I could get off three minutes later (at) the same station I had successfully travelled from earlier that morning.
"Trying to intimidate me, he said I might have to stay on the train to Shanklin, over 12 miles away. When I said I had made the journey hours earlier, he said, and I quote: 'rubbish, you would not have been allowed to board the train'.
"Eventually, after several minutes of his posturing, huffing and puffing, Guard 1003 lifted the tiny ramp stored on the train and, quite literally, threw it on the platform, hitting my foot and leg in the process (when I got home, I found it was grazed and bleeding, I did not know this at the time because I can't feel it).
"And with that simple, easy manoeuvre, which took him only 10 seconds, I was on the train, Guard 1003 snarling at me like some prison guard. All the other passengers looked on in disbelief but, in typical British fashion did nothing."
Holt has been in a wheelchair since a swimming accident 28 years ago in the Caribbean. He completed his 2,700-mile transatlantic sail in 2010, finishing at the site of his 1984 accident.
Holt added on his blog: "He had publicly humiliated me, he had publicly degraded me and he had made me feel like a worthless piece of dirt … it was quite simply the most disgusting way to treat another human being, let alone a disabled one."
An Island Line statement, issued by Stagecoach, said: "We are absolutely horrified at the events Mr Holt has described. We welcome electric wheelchairs on our services and it is very important to us that all of our passengers feel welcome on our network.
""We are taking this matter very seriously and have already launched an investigation. A senior manager has contacted Mr Holt directly to apologise."We can also confirm that one of our employees has been suspended while our investigation is under way."
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