Thelife- Delta damaged a 12-year-old's mobility scooter on a flight from Atlanta to New York on Monday.
- The girl, who has a broken ankle, has been housebound since and finds it difficult to move.
A 12-year-old was left housebound for days after Delta damaged the mobility scooter she was using after breaking her ankle.
Shaquanna Cross was travelling with Chelsie Paul on a Delta flight from Atlanta to New York's JFK airport on Monday. When the scooter was returned, Cross found it was "in pieces", with a broken seat and damaged wheels.
"For their employees to handle an important medical machine without any care in the world is unacceptable to me. I went to file a claim at the airport and had to wait over 2 hours just to do that," Cross told Insider.
Since returning home, Chelsie Paul hasn't been able to leave and has relied on Cross to move between rooms.
"She has crutches too but she doesn't know how to use them that good," Cross said. "So she's been in the house until her new one comes.
"I have to help her around the house, she holds on to me and hops around with the one good foot she has. I'm being used for extra help and support."
Through five days of sending several complaint emails, Cross has been sent the same automated response each time that indicated someone would reply within 30 days.
"Their employees need to do better because it is totally unacceptable to have them mistreat someone's medical device like they did my daughter's," Cross said.
Delta has faced recent issues with the handling of luggage for disabled passengers. In early July, Insider reported how its staff failed to put a passenger's wheelchair on his flight from New York to Ireland.
In a statement, Delta told Insider it had been in touch with Cross to speed up the process of reimbursing her for the scooter.
"Delta takes the care and transportation of mobility devices very seriously and understands that any mishandling has a direct impact to a customer's daily life. We sincerely apologize for this experience and we're working directly with the customer to make things right via repairs and compensation," a spokesperson said.