Woman calls out Transport for NSW after humiliating moment at train station

Sophie Gunn was forced into a humiliating situation after train staff wrongly told her a station was wheelchair accessible.

Wheelchair user Sophie Gunn has called out state government staff after being falsely informed a train station she needed to use was wheelchair accessible.

The woman, from the NSW Blue Mountains, issued a sarcastic “thank you” to Transport for NSW after arriving at the Lawson station with no way of getting up or down its stairs.

“Shout out to Transport NSW, both the website and the train guards who got me on and off the train for telling me that the station was wheelchair accessible,” she said in a TikTok this week.

There was no elevator for Sophie Gunn to use at Lawson Station. Picture: TikTok/feelsonwheels_

She was forced to carry herself and all her belongings down the stairs. Picture: TikTok/feelsonwheels_

“When (in) fact, yes it did have the car spot and accessible bathroom, but what it did also have was a tonne of stairs and no elevator or level crossing.

“So I got to carry myself, my wheelchair and my bags down the stairs. Amazing.”

Thousands of followers were in disbelief that many stations were still not accessible for people in a wheelchair.

“The fact that there are still train stations that aren’t accessible is wild,” one person responded.

“Oh my days. Is this real life? I’m so sorry,” another said.

@feelsonwheels_ Love this for me ✨ #babeswithmobilityaids#wheelchairuser#disabilitytiktok#disability#transportnsw♬ original sound - Sophie

“So sad to see they haven’t upgraded accessibility to the station,” a third wrote.

Many agreed excluding people in a wheelchair from an essential service should be illegal.

“How is this even legal? Public transport is for everyone and should accommodate everyone,” a popular comment read.

“I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult that would have been, I always feel dead by the end of those stairs just with my work bag,” someone else said.

Others described the situation as “absolutely disgraceful” and “disgusting”.

Transport for NSW has been contacted by news.com.au for comment.

Ms Gunn was born with spina bifida, a birth defect in which a developing baby’s spinal cord fails to develop properly, and hydrocephalus, a build-up of fluid in the cavities deep within the brain.

“I have the most severe type, Myelomeningocele, where my spinal cord escaped through the gap in my vertebrae in-utero and was exposed at birth, damaging and disorganising the nerves of my spinal cord,” wrote in an article for Mamamia.

“I use a manual wheelchair for mobility, wear ankle-foot orthotics to stand and use Canadian crutches to walk short distances. Some less noticeable aspects of my disabilities include: chronic headaches, poor circulation and weak leg muscles.”

Ms Gunn advocates for disability rights across social media, including on her TikTok account, feelsonwheels_.