Blind Man's Guide Dog Failed To Find A Place For Its Owner And Worried About Frustrating Him
Not so long ago, in March 2018, London Underground has witnessed a frustrating act of inhumane behavior towards a blind man with a guide dog. To be more precise, it was rather a lack of any action that made a disabled man risk his life during an ordinary way home with his helper.
Amit Patel lost his sight five years ago because of a haemorrhage behind his eyes, and got a guide dog, Kika, to accompany and guide him on a daily basis. On Tuesday, the man taking his way home, as usual, and dived into the hectic London Underground together with his dog. They boarded one of the trains, and Amit asked Kika to find him a free seat in the disabled area, but all of them were taken by non-disabled passengers. Unfortunately, none of them was willing to offer their seat to Amit.
If there was ever a conversation starter...seeing a #GuideDog proudly wearing odd socks is definitely up there!I’m loving promoting World Downs Syndrome Day #lotsofsocks #rockyoursocks #wdsd2018 #wdsd18 #dsapfamily @DSAInfo @guidedogs @GuidedogsLondon #TheKikaEffect pic.twitter.com/4VPSKa8KJs
— Kika (@Kika_GuideDog) March 21, 2018
It was heavily raining that afternoon and the subway car's floor was really wet. Amit had to wait at the entry with his loyal guide dog Kika by his side.
We walked to the end of the platform in the pouring rain so that we can board the designated disabled section on the @Se_Railway train & even with dad giving me the command “find a seat” not one passenger gave up their seat! @GuidedogsLondon @guidedogs @transportforall pic.twitter.com/MHl0xtw6fU
— Kika @Kika_GuideDog) March 27, 2018
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Amit has two accounts on Twitter: his personal account and the one he created for his dog Kika. Via these accounts, he told about what happened and shared some photos of the events. In those images, one can see all the people occupying the places, while he had to stand because nobody was kind enough to get up and give him a place.
One of those images caused a particular hype and became viral immediately. The disturbing photo features the dog's face after failing to find a seat for its master: Kika looks remarkably sad.
Dad had to stand with his back against the doors whilst trying not to slip & I was sliding all over the place as the floor was wet. Have some humanity people! @GuidedogsLondon @GuidedogsLondon @Se_Railway @transportforall pic.twitter.com/aXZ8wQbFi2
— Kika (@Kika_GuideDog) March 27, 2018
According to Amit, there were people who claimed to be blind or deaf when asked if there was a place available. Judging by the pictures, that is completely false. Which is very sad because it's a vivid sign there were many people without any empathy.
Dear passengers, take it as a lesson that reminds us to be kind and show solidarity towards the people in need. The places assigned to people with disabilities must always be respected. Don’t be ignorant, be humane!
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