'HUMILIATING:’ Woman removed from flight over ‘unpleasant’ genetic illness

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A California woman was stopped from boarding a flight from Los Angeles due to a rare medical condition.

Brianna Solari, a nurse from Sacramento, had flown down to L.A. to undergo a specialized surgery for tumours caused by a genetic condition called neurofibromatosis.

The condition causes non-cancerous tumors to grow all over the skin, organs and nervous system, according to Neurofibromatosis Ontario.

In Solari’s case, it affects her skin, particularly her face.

“I’m aware of how I look with all of these scabs on me,” Solari told KTLA. “I know it’s unpleasant. I suffer from a genetic illness and I got surgery to improve my appearance and self-esteem.”

Solari was at Hollywood Burbank Airport for her return flight home on Aug. 1 on Southwest Airlines, making sure she wore a face mask and headband.

As the woman boarded the plane and took her seat, a flight attendant came over and asked her to leave.

“He said there were some concerns about whether or not I had any kind of communicable disease,” Solari told the outlet. “He mentioned chickenpox specifically.”

She was escorted to the gate, where she informed airline employees about her rare medical condition.

“Essentially, I lack a protein which is a tumour suppressor and that causes tumours to grow under and on the skin, along nerves,” she described.

Solari explained to staffers that she just had surgery and her condition was not contagious, but they told her she would have to be examined by emergency medical services at the airport before boarding again.

She contacted her own doctor’s office and was able to get them to email her a letter of medical clearance and was then cleared to fly. But by then, she missed the original flight to wait another five hours for another plane.

“It was embarrassing,” she told KTLA. “It was humiliating. It’s absolutely shameful what they did. This is no way to treat somebody.”

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A spokesperson at Southwest Airlines told the outlet, “We are disheartened to learn of the customer’s experience flying with us and extend our deepest apologies for the inconvenience.”

The airline added: “Even though our team ultimately received clearance for the customer to travel, we weren’t able to do so in time for the flight’s departure. We rebooked her on a later flight, offered a travel voucher for a future flight, along with a meal voucher, and we’re following up with her directly to discuss the situation.”

Solari vowed to never fly Southwest again and told the outlet that she hopes other passengers with medical conditions receive better treatment than she did.