Double amputee, Tony Hudgell, 8, left stranded at Gatwick for five hours and £6,500 wheelchair ‘twisted and bent’

12 December 2022, 10:17 | Updated: 13 December 2022, 07:50

A boy who lost his legs after being tortured by his own parents was left stranded for five hours at an airport without his wheelchair as snow caused widespread travel chaos.

Tony Hudgell's mother Jody Simpson and her boyfriend Anthony Smith were both jailed for 10 years for horrifically abusing him when he was six weeks old.

Tony, now eight, needed to have both of his legs amputated and is beginning to rebuild his life with adoptive parents Paula and Mark Hudgell.

But he was caught in the transport misery faced by Brits, with his parents sharing a picture of him sitting on a luggage conveyor belt as he waited for his £6,500 wheelchair to be brought off a plane at Gatwick.

Tony’s parents said after waiting for five hours, his wheelchair emerged and it was “twisted and bent.”

His furious mum posted online: “Appalled with Jet2 and Gatwick Airport have been stranded for 3 hrs now with no wheelchair as its still on the plane. 3am no help. Double amputee no legs as his wheelchair is his legs. Trying to get help or assistance and nothing.

“The luggage hadn't come off either. 5 hours later wheelchair appears on conveyor belt bent and chipped. It was supposed to be there to get him off the plane but No it wasnt.”

After several hours Jet2 sent Tony an apology, writing online: “I am incredibly sorry to hear of your experience, we are currently trying to contact our team at LGW and we will look into fixing this for you.”

But his mum replied: “Sorted now but 5 hours too late as far as a wheelchair user needs ignored. Assistance was booked in advance. Should have been sorted and when it did come out it was put on the conveyor belt and got twisted and bent. Full complaint on its way. Wheelchair cost us £6500 so cross.”

“All we want is his wheelchair they can keep the luggage. Totally stuck bet CEO couldn't manage without their legs it's disgraceful.

3 hours and still waiting that's after a 4.5 hrs delay which we expected but to not have his wheelchair at the end is appalling x”

Jet2 later added in a statement: "We would like to sincerely apologise to Mr Hudgell and his family for the delay on receiving his wheelchair and for any inconvenience caused as a result.

"As an award-winning airline that prides itself on industry-leading customer service, we take matters such as this extremely seriously and are working with our ground handling agent to investigate how this happened.

“We can confirm that the delay was due to Gatwick Airport being temporarily closed due to snow, which meant that the baggage handler experienced severe delays offloading luggage. Unfortunately, this included Mr Hudgell’s wheelchair.

“We recognise that this should not be the experience that our customers receive when travelling with us and can confirm that we have been in touch with Ms Hudgell to offer both our sincere apologies and to do everything we can to rectify this situation.”

Tony had been taken to lapland for a dream trip ahead of Christmas.

On December 7 his family tweeted: “We as a family are so excited to be off to Lapland on Thursday for an amazing 4 days.”

People described his treatment as “appalling.”

One wrote: “This is truly awful, bloody ridiculous in fact. Disabled passengers should always be a priority by both airline and airport.”

Another said: “Shocked and utterly appalled to see this disgraceful situation…..”

Young Tony is a Pride of Britain award winner and has raised more than £1.7million for the Evelina London Children’s Hospital, which saved his life.

He flew out from Gatwick with his family on Thursday morning and told of his excitement.

He told MailOnline: “‘I cannot wait to see the elves and Santa and it’s going to be the best time ever. 

“I’m looking forward to seeing the reindeer too.”

He flew out with adoptive parents Paula and Mark and their three children where they stayed in a log cabin for the dream trip.

Tony has been hailed as a hero by Prince William and Kate Middleton over his fundraising efforts.

Tony had a horrific start to life, which led him to undergo 23 operations and eight blood transfusions.

He was rushed to hospital in 2014 when he was just 41 days old after abuse by his biological parents Jody Simpson and Tony Smith. 

They were found guilty of child cruelty in 2018, and are both serving 10-year prison sentences.