A blind London doctor was left feeling shaken after an impatient commuter harassed him and his guide dog on a London Underground escalator. A viral video shows Dr Amit Patel standing on the escalator heading down the tube, with his guide dog next to him, when an angry passenger tried to hurry the pair along.
An audibly stressed Dr Patel can be heard telling the commuter the guide dog could not be moved, prompting the man to shake his head. Dr Patel, who goes by @Blind Dad on Twitter, said the encounter “ruined” his day.
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In the video, the commuter, whose face is blurred, can be heard saying: “You’re worse than a dog if you can’t understand a human being. I just want to catch the train.”
Dr Patel replies: “Yes, but I can’t move. She’s a guide dog – she can’t move for anyone. I can’t physically move. She’s not going to move. There’s no point arguing.”
Posting a video to Twiter, the DEI Consultant and disability activist later said: “Why do some people get so angry? This guy may have forgotten what he said by the time he got on the Tube, but it ruined my day. You can hear in my voice just how stressed I was. I’d never endanger Kika [the guide dog] or myself by attempting to move on an escalator. Please, be kind.”
After receiving waves of support and sympathy from Twitter users, Dar Patel added: “Thanks for all the love & support you’ve shown Kika and me. Kika’s an absolute professional & has been specially trained by Guide Dogs to travel on escalators safely. All we need is a little space & patience & we can all travel safely.”
Twitter users were enraged by the video, with one writing: “I am so sorry you and Kika had this experience. Some people are just nasty. They feel that if they are aggressive & rude it is acceptable. TfL please can you look at having more staff on the concourse to try and help to minimise this behaviour and to step in when needed to assist.”
A TfL spokesperson apologised for the commuter’s behaviour and responded to confirm the issue had been passed on.
Another viewer said: “What? It’s the Tube there will be another one in two minutes, I’m sure whoever he’s going to see at the end of his journey will be thankful for him being late.”
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