TikToker Ellie Brelis claims to have been kicked off a Delta Airlines flight because of her food allergies. On an earlier flight, she had experienced a “mild” anaphylactic shock.
When Ellie Brelis travelled from Boston to Los Angeles, she went into an anaphylactic shock. Prior to travelling back, she upgraded her seat. She informed the flight attendants of her food allergy and the location of her EpiPens in an attempt to avoid the same situation from happening again. She had made an appointment with a doctor in Boston the following day to discuss her allergy.
Yet just before takeoff, she was escorted off the plane with her luggage still aboard.
“I was literally on the plane and they escorted me off,” 29-year old Brelis says in a TikTok video. “I don’t know what I did and the person at the gate right now is saying I didn’t do anything wrong.”
According to Brelis, flight attendants told her Medair had to be contacted in order for a doctor to determine whether or not she was “fit to fly”, forcing her to stay at the airport for multiple hours without being able to eat anything.
“Somehow it kind of all just evolved really quickly to where there were so many different people involved. And I was really embarrassed and didn’t understand how it had gotten to be such a an ordeal because I’ve flown many, many times in my life and I’ve always done the exact same thing,” she told The New York Post.
According to The Independent, food allergies are considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, requiring airlines to accommodate passengers with disabilities. Delta Airlines’ website advises passengers with allergies to fill out a form or contact the Accessibility Services team before flying.
In the end, she was rebooked on Delta’s redeye flight to Boston yet given the fact that it was a full flight, her safety couldn’t be guaranteed. Brelis finally cancelled her flight and got home on a JetBlue plane.
“I understand. I always have a risk when I fly,” she told The New York Post, “but flying is a part of life and I think we should all have the ability to do it, whether or not we can eat shellfish or peanuts.”
