Air Canada Damages Dying Boy's Wheelchair

Aug. 5, 2010— -- A 10-year-old Canadian boy who flew to New York as part of his dying wish arrived in the Big Apple only to find his customized wheelchair had been badly damaged by Air Canada. Without the chair, Tanner Bawn was immobile and spent nearly a day stuck in his Manhattan hotel room waiting for a replacement.

Bawn, 10, of Vancouver, has muscular dystrophy and is immobile without the electric wheelchair. According to Scott Stratten, a family friend, doctors give Bawn a year and a half to live.

So his friends and family are trying to fulfill a dozen or so of his wishes. One is being a cowboy for a day. Another, is visiting New York where he wants to see the Toys R Us in Times Square and race through Central Park in a tutu with a supporter. That charity run called "Tutus for Tanner" in supposed to happen Friday and aims to raise $25,000 via Twitter. (A tag #TutusForTanner has been filled with posts all day about the wheelchair saga.)

Bawn's saga started Wednesday afternoon when he and his aunt, Catherine Connors, boarded an Air Canada plane in Toronto heading to New York's LaGuardia airport.

After making it to his seat, the custom wheelchair was taken to the cargo hold.

"One of the baggage handlers decided to try and take it apart," Stratten said. "This isn't like a manual wheelchair. This is a huge thing."

When Bawn and Connor arrived in New York, Stratten said, "they found the wheelchair in a heap in pieces."

"They pretty much wrecked his $15,000 custom chair so he couldn't go anywhere," said Stratten, who helped raise funds for the trip. "I've got a kid here who can't move."