News 12 helps ‘Ms. Wheelchair America’ with wheelchair broken by airline
Latavia Sturdivant says she is the first woman from New York to win Ms. Wheelchair America.
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The repair process is moving forward after News 12 helped a Yonkers pageant queen who says an airline broke her wheelchair, nearly trapping her in her home.
Latavia Sturdivant says she is the first woman from New York to win Ms. Wheelchair America.
She's won the title two years in a row.
"It means everything. It's amazing to bring it home to New York," Sturdivant says.
As part of her duties, Sturdivant travelled to make an appearance at an adaptive ski event in South Dakota last month.
She says the trip was great until she returned to New York and discovered that her wheelchair was severely damaged.
"The joystick, like you see it now, is completely off. The back of the chair was open. So, the box was open, it's being held on by two screws. The foot plates were bent and this lateral over here is cracked in half," Sturdivant says.
Sturdivant filed a claim with Delta Airlines to get the chair repaired, but she says a Delta employee told her and her family that someone could just push the motorized chair until it was repaired.
"My mom was like, 'I can't push this. This weighs 300-400 pounds. I can't push it. We better hope it can drive.' At first, it wasn't driving at all," Sturdivant says.
Sturdivant says she's talking with National Seating and Mobility in the Bronx to get the chair repaired.
She says the company first told her they didn't accept Delta's insurance. However, after News 12 reached out, they agreed to take on the repairs.
In the meantime, Sturdivant is calling on airlines to treat medical equipment with more care.
"It's devastating to me that people don't understand that once this breaks down, because this is my legs, my whole life is altered," Sturdivant says.
Sturdivant says she's basically homebound until her custom chair is fixed. She says the long waiting period is causing her lots of physical & emotional pain.
A spokesperson for Delta says they understand the impact of this incident and apologize for it.
However, Sturdivant says she's heartbroken and had to put her royal duties on hold.
"I need to get this fixed and see what's going to happen," Sturdivant says.
