Epileptic teen and family asked to leave Emirates flight in Dubai

On Wednesday, Emirates staff members asked an epileptic teenager to leave the plane, despite the fact that a medical certificate was presented.

The 17-year-old had boarded a flight en route to France from Dubai's airport when staff members approached the teen and his family after boarding the flight.

Eli's mother, Euronews journalist Isabelle Kumar, had called the airline in advance to make sure staff members were informed of her son's needs. 

However, when she asked staff members for a "seat with a vacant seat next to it in case he had a seizure" they demanded to see a medical certificate. 

"I couldn’t initially find the certificate, But I called the doctor, got them to email the certificate which she did immediately," she said, according to The Guardian.

The teenager had also gotten approval to fly from his doctor. 

"Eli's doctor wanted to speak to the attendants but they refused to speak to her, refused to look at the certificate, and refused to listen to us about Eli's needs."

Flight attendants said the "certificate had to be shown to ground staff." 

This happened despite the fact that the family informed staff about the teen's disability both while checking in and then again at the departure gate.

Staff members forced the entire family to disembark the plane. They had also threatened to call the police upon refusal. 

"The children were crying, Eli was really distressed, he was biting his arm which is how he copes with stress, holding his head in his hands," Kumar said.

After being escorted off the plane, an emergency medical team was waiting for the family. 

"They thought he'd had a medical emergency, but we said he was fine. They couldn't understand why we had been kicked off. They immediately agreed he was fine to fly, but we were not allowed to re-board. The lack of humanity was really shocking," Kumar said, according to The Guardian.

The family was then booked on another flight to Geneva the next day. Upon arrival to the Swiss city, Eli had a seizure. 

"Eli is now 17, we know what it takes – we’ve been everywhere and we’ve managed it, but it takes very careful planning which is why this was so disruptive," Kumar said.

An Emirates spokesperson said the airline was "very sorry for any distress and inconvenience caused to Ms Kumar and her family."

Earlier this year, Emirates crew told two siblings with nut allergies to spend the flight in the plane's toilet to avoid inhaling cashew residue.

The siblings, who have been identified as Sundeep and Shannen Sahota, claimed to have informed Emirates staff members about their allergies prior to booking, during check-in, and once again while boarding.

Just 40 minutes into the flight, en route from Birmingham to Dubai, the siblings learned that one of the in-flight meals included "cashews" in its ingredients.

Upon discovery, the siblings informed cabin crew of the problematic situation as "being exposed to nut residue circulated by the plane vents could send them into anaphylactic shock." 

The siblings reiterated that the cabin crew did not quite "understand the severity of it," during This Morning Show.

Instead, the cabin crew advised the siblings to spend 7.5 hours in the airplane's bathroom.