‘It’s left Tony with a fear of being left on a train’
Mum’s frustration at lack of help for seven-year-old amputee
The adoptive mother of young double-amputee Tony Hudgell has criticised Southeastern after the seven-year-old was almost left on a train.
Paula Hudgell, who lives in Kings Hill, took to Twitter to share her frustrations following a visit to London.
She claims the family received no assistance at Waterloo station and as the doors of the train started to close, she was forced to jump back on with Tony’s wheelchair.
Mrs Hudgell was also angry at not having received an apology.
Tony, who raised more than £1million during lockdown for the London hospital that saved his life, still requires regular hospital appointments due to the injuries he suffered as a baby. He was abused so badly by his birth parents at just 41 days old that he needed both of his legs amputated.
Mrs Hudgell says the recent incident has left Tony with a fear of being left on a train.
A Southeastern spokesman said: “Our accessibility team works closely with our accessibility panel to make sure that everyone can travel with confidence on our trains, and we were very sorry to hear about the experience that Tony had.
“Frontline colleagues have
been part of an extensive training programme and they help to complete thousands of successful assisted travel journeys every week. There is an investigation every time the standards we set are not achieved.
“We have been in contact with Tony’s mother Paula about the
incident and apologised to her again today. Our Customer Services team will be following up with her as soon as possible.”
Earlier this year, Tony inspired a new law, named after him, which will see tougher sentences dished out to child abusers like his biological parents.