Disabled comedian Tanyalee Davis has criticised train company Great Western
Railway after she was “harassed and shamed” in a row over her mobility
scooter on a journey from Plymouth to London.
Tanyalee, who is just 3ft 6ins tall and uses the scooter to get around, found
herself in a beef with a young mother and train staff when she put her
scooter into a space reserved for wheelchair users.
The comedian, and her partner Kevin Bolden, were asked to move from their
seats when the woman got onto the train and wanted to put a pram into the
wheelchair space.
The train was halted at Taunton and Tanyalee said an announcement was made
saying the police had been called and that she was holding up the train’s
progress “indefinitely”.
She said she was made to feel “shamed” and “embarrassed” and blamed
for a 20-minute delay which caused passengers, including herself, to miss
their connections.
“It was such a horrific experience,” she said.
The Canadian has posted a video on social media where, tears streaming down
her face, she criticises
GWR▸ and the country for the way disabled people are
treated.
“I cried for most of the journey and I’m sick of this,” she said. “I
have this all the time.
“Just because I have a mobility scooter doesn’t make me a pariah.”
She added: “I don’t know what it is about this country – they really
make you feel disabled.”
GWR has said it wants to talk to Tanyalee about the incident but stressed it
should not have arisen and that “no one travelling with us should be left
feeling like this.”
Tanyaleehad headlined Plymouth Comedy Club
(
https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/3ft-6ins-comic-says-gets-1772535), at
Plymouth Athenaeum, to rapturous applause on Saturday evening, July 14.
She was travelling back to the capital on Sunday morning, July 15, after
staying over in the city at the Derry’s Cross Travelodge.
Tanyalee, who has appeared on top-rated TV shows Live at the Apollo and The
Last Leg, bases much of her act around her short stature and is also a
campaigner for disabled people and against bullying.
She said the train did not have a disabled carriage and she had not reserved
a wheelchair space because of difficulties doing this online.
She placed her scooter in the empty wheelchair space in the first class
carriage and Kevin sat in an unreserved space opposite.
Tanyalee said there was no problem until the train left a station, possibly
Exeter, about an hour into the journey.
“A woman got on and there was all this commotion,” she said.
Tanyalee said the woman wanted to put her pram into the wheelchair space
occupied by her scooter.
She said a member of the train’s staff told her to “fold up the
scooter” but she said that was not practical and, in any case, “why
should I?”
Tanyalee said the woman with the baby then asked Kevin to vacate “her”
seat, even though it was not reserved.
“She kicked up a fit,” she said. “She had to have that space. It all
got escalated and he (train staff) said ‘fine, I’m calling the police’.
“The train stopped at Taunton and he made an announcement over the tannoy
saying it was the woman with the mobility scooter that was causing problems
and we would be delayed indefinitely.”
Tanyalee moved her scooter out of the carriage and Kevin left his seat.
But she kept having to shift the vehicle throughout the journey so it did not
block doors and she said the train staff “kept bringing it up” by
reminding passengers she was the cause of the delay.
“I as so embarrassed,” she said.
She said other passengers offered to help her but stressed the issues was
having to move her scooter.
“Fine if it was another wheelchair, if it had been booked, I’ve been in
that position – but it was a baby pram,” she said.
And the young mum involved in the incident even apologised to Tanyalee and
said: “She said she felt really bad, and I think she genuinely did.”
Tanyalee, who has a form of dwarfism called diastrophic dysplasia, is an
outspoken critic of the way disabled people are treated in the
UK▸ .
She said she is regularly harassed pointed at and even grabbed, particularly
when she is out at night on her scooter following gigs.
She is now the director of the anti-bullying charity Gr8 As U R, which has
been working with young people to build their self-confidence.
“I’m just trying to make a living, just trying to make people laugh,”
she said.
Tanyalee said the Plymouth Comedy Club show had been a huge hit and she had a
lovely time in the city.
“Plymouth is lovely,” she said. “I really enjoyed it. Brian Cross and
Kevin Brooker (Comedy Club organisers) were great hosts.
“I was by the water after the show and it was great.”
A GWR spokesman said: “No one travelling with us should be left feeling
like this.
“This should not have happened, and we are attempting to contact Tanyalee
so we can look into this further.”
A comedian has hit out at a train operator after she was "harassed and humiliated" for using a disabled space for her mobility scooter.
Tanyalee Davis said a guard on a Great Western Railway (GWR) service threatened to call the police if she did not leave the space.
Ms Davis said the guard then made an announcement that she was "causing problems" which had delayed the train.
GWR said staff who saw the video were "collectively horrified".
Canadian-born Ms Davis, 47, who has a form of dwarfism, was travelling on the 11:00 service from Plymouth to London on Sunday with her partner, Kevin Bolden, who filmed the incident on a mobile phone.
She was told to move from the unreserved space after a young mother asked to use it for a pram.
Ms Davis, who lives in Norwich, said she felt "personally and publicly humiliated" after the guard threatened to call the police.
"He made an announcement... saying that it was 'the woman with the mobility scooter' that was causing problems and that the train would be delayed indefinitely," she said.
"It was humiliating and I cried for most of the journey home," she said.
Ms Davis had been travelling back to Norfolk after headlining the Plymouth Comedy Club on Saturday.
n a tearful video after the journey, she said: "I don't know what it is about this country, they really make you feel disabled.
"Just because I use a mobility scooter it doesn't make me a pariah, it doesn't make me less disabled".
"I'm just trying to make a living, to make people laugh," she added.
Dan Panes, from GWR, said a team from the train company had watched Ms Davis' video and were "collectively horrified".
"We got it wrong, it made no sense. A wheelchair space is a wheelchair space, it's not for luggage or pushchairs," he admitted.
"The priority is really clear. Tanyalee should not have been asked to move."
He confirmed that an investigation is under way - but did not say if any action would be taken against the train guard involved.
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