The man, Michael Williams, said he’s been working with American Airlines for almost three years to come to some resolution for his lost leg. He followed the company’s missing items protocols, which ask passengers to submit a claim. However, he said that hasn’t led to much, and he believes American Airlines has been borderline negligent in his case.

“Dealing with a prosthetic leg is not as easy as people think it is,” he told Fox 2 Now. “You can’t do this to somebody that’s disabled. Just say, ‘Hey, we lost something of yours, but we’re not going to pay.'”

Williams also provided the outlet with details regarding the incident.

“The special-made leg, I put it in my suitcase. I put the sticker on it that said “fragile,” he said. “I gave it to the young lady at American Airlines when I was checking in. When I get to St. Louis airport, they roll me downstairs to baggage claim. I’m sitting there waiting for my luggage to come off, and never comes off.”

Williams said he eventually received a reimbursement check of around $600.

“When I spoke with the young lady that was handling the claim, she told me this was to cover the clothes that you lost. I was like, ‘Ok, fine, great,” he said.

According to Williams, prosthetic legs are “$26,000. $26,650 to be exact.”

A few weeks after receiving the check, Williams inquired about getting a reimbursement for the lost leg. He said a representative told him, “We don’t have enough proof or evidence to pay for the leg, so we’re not going to pay for the leg.”

After that, Williams decided he had to lawyer up to get the airlines’ attention. And in the meantime, Williams is dealing with trauma surrounding flying.

“It’s to the point where I don’t want to fly. I feel like if I fly again, what if I have to fly with my wheelchair and they lose my wheelchair this time,” he said. “And they tell me we lost your power wheelchair, but hey, we’re not going to do anything about it. It’s like, what do you do?”

Unfortunately, Williams’ situation is not an isolated incident. According to Atlanta Black Star, Emily Tuite lost her waterproof prosthetic leg on a three-hour flight from Austin, Texas, to San Diego in September. She, like Williams, spent hours on the phone with airline employees about getting her leg back or being reimbursed — but she said nothing worked.

 

Tuite suspected her bags were stolen but weeks later learned the tags had been accidentally switched with another passenger. The airline released a statement about how hard they worked to find Tuite’s bags and shared that staff gave”her “a refund in the amount of $60, which covers her baggage “e”s.”

“In addition, we kindly asked Ms. Tuite to submit receipts for compensation and processing,” they also wrote.

American Airlines has not spoken about Williams’ loss publicly.