TRAIN SHAME
Paralympic legend’s fury after she was forced to CRAWL off a train when staff failed to help her
Grey-Thompson won 11 gold medals during her Paralympic career
PARALYMPIC gold winner Tanni Grey-Thompson had to crawl off a train when staff failed to help her, she revealed.
The baroness, 55, who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, arrived at King’s Cross, London, on Monday at 10pm expecting assistance, having booked ahead for an earlier train.
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But after 16 minutes waiting with no sign of staff, she threw her suitcases on to the platform and decided to crawl off.
She said: “I had to get out of my chair, sit on the floor right by the door, which is not particularly pleasant, and then crawl”.
She had missed her 7.15pm train from Leeds and got on the 7.45pm service instead.
The former athlete said yesterday: “There was no one around.
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"I mean, I was pretty angry last night.
"Disabled people have a legal right to turn up and go.
“So I had booked assistance but I hadn’t made that train.
"Legally, I am allowed to turn up and ask to get on a train.
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“Once somebody has put me on a train, I have a contract, which means somebody should meet me at the other end.”
Baroness Grey-Thompson competed in wheelchair racing in five Games between 1988 and 2004, winning 11 gold medals, four silvers and a bronze.
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She was made a life peer in 2010.
Train operator LNER said: “We are sorry there has been an issue.
"We are in the process of investigating this.”