A PARALYMPIC gold medalist said she was 'treated differently' after a guard refused to help her on a train.
Sophie Christiansen from Ascot needed assistance to get on the train at Kings Cross Station on Wednesday, August 25.
The wheelchair user with cerebral palsy arrived 30 minutes before her train but struggled with her ticket which left her with five minutes to get on the carriage.
She claims the guard then wouldn't help her get on the train despite "other able-bodied people walking past with their luggage" getting on the train.
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Eventually, Sophie managed to get on the carriage with the help of another guard but says the ordeal made her feel like "no one gave a damn".
She spoke to the News and said: "After 18 months in lockdown I have been quite able-bodied as I was working from home but previously I would travel into London, but after lockdown it's almost got worse and it really hit hard. I took four train journeys since to get to Leeds and back and three out of four have failed.
"I would have missed my train had I have not kicked off as crowds of people were getting on the train. A lot of the time when I arrive and need assistance they say they didn't even know I was on a train."
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Sophie said staff at train stations need to be better trained and have more 'empathy' when helping disabled people.
The 33-year-old said: "This is so frustrating and the communication needs to be better and in this day and age it should not be happening.
"We do get discounted on train tickets but I would rather pay the full amount and get treated like everyone else. It's like a get out card that they don't have to help. "
The paralympian has previously called on the government to lobby rail companies to improve disabled access.
Yet, Sophie feels like there is nothing they can do and nothing will ever change.
Adding: "I've been making this public for years but clearly they don't give a damn. I'm not naive enough to make the whole infrastructure able-bodied as that would cost billions but staff training would be good to simply know which carriage you're on and for a guard to come find us and say 'I know you're on this train'. It would reduce that anxiety of travelling when I know someone is there waiting with a ramp.
"I tweeted SW trains and the Rail Delivery Group and there are so many things they could do that wouldn't cost a lot to make it better."
She documented her ordeal on Facebook claiming not enough is being done to support people with disabilities on trains.
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