A young man's mum claims he was blocked from an easyJet flight because of concerns he'd shout something inappropriate, it has been reported.
Josh Dooley, who has Tourette's, was due to fly out to Amsterdam with his mum Joanne, dad Richard and sister to celebrate his 18th birthday.
As they were about to board the plane last Friday they claim the captain pulled them to one side.
The aviation pro said they were not able to fly due to concerns Josh would shout 'bomb' or something else that would scare passengers due to his condition, Joanne told Yahoo News.
Tourette's is a syndrome that causes a person to make involuntary movements and sounds called tics, which can sometimes be seen as rude or shocking.
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The incident took place on an easyJet flight (Steve Reigate Daily Express)One in ten people with Tourette's may have coprolalia - meaning they blurt out obscenities - and Josh is in their number.
Joanne said she had contacted easyJet several weeks before flying from Liverpool Airport to tell them of Josh's Tourette's, despite having no obligation to.
"Special Assistance were extremely helpful in ensuring we had a relaxed experience checking in and reaching the plane, then suddenly this happened," she said.
The captain told the family that they were "not boarding this plane", Joanne claimed.
She added: "Josh can get anxious, and anxiety can exacerbate tics. We had taken measures to create a calm experience but this backfired and actually created a situation that caused great anxiety for both him and his sister."
The family were eventually allowed to board, but Joanne says they were "all left traumatised by the experience", having spent around 25 minutes discussing the situation.
The mum said there was a 25 minute wait while the situation was discussed before they were allowed on board.
On the way home the family did not tell the airline about Josh's syndrome and had no issues.
A spokesperson for easyJet said: "It is incredibly important to easyJet that our customers feel supported when they fly with us and we are very sorry that this was not the Dooley family’s experience.
"We have been in touch with them to apologise and understand more about their experience as we always want the highest levels of care to be shown to all our customers.
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"We are also meeting with Tourette's Action to explore how we and our partners can apply any learnings.”
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