A PLANE passenger was left stunned after a mum told him not to eat food near her son – because the lad suffers from the same rare syndrome as Katie Price’s son Harvey.
The man, who was flying from New York to LA for work, has divided internet users after posting about the experience online.
GettyAn airline passenger who rowed with a young boy’s family over snacking has told his story on Reddit[/caption]
He said he has diabetes and began tucking into a snack to regulate his blood sugar as he sat beside a family with a young child, the Mirror reports.
But the youngster’s mum “immediately” began giving him “dirty looks”, he said in a post on Reddit.
“The mother said, ‘Can you not do that?’” he wrote.
“So I put my food away and figured I’d wait until the flight attendant came around so I could buy food from her and eat at an acceptable time just to show some respect for their wishes.”
But when a crewmember did walk around the plane with refreshments, the father of the family said the whole row didn’t want to eat.
“I go up to press the call light so I can get my food and my drink because I actually need it,” the man said.
“The father says, ‘Our son has Prader-Willi, we’d prefer it if you didn’t eat because it causes tantrums when he doesn’t know he can’t eat and he’s always hungry’.
“I’m close to a tantrum myself at this point and so I look him in the eye and say, ‘I do not care, fly private if you want to control your surroundings’.”
He began eating – only for the child’s mother to snap that he needed to be “educated”.
The man replied that he wouldn’t “endanger himself” for the sake of her son.
He later posted his story online after wondering if he’d been sympathetic enough.
Prader-Willi is a rare genetic condition that can cause a range of symptoms, including an excessive appetite, floppiness caused by weak muscles, learning difficulties and emotional outbursts.
Harvey Price suffers from the syndrome.
His mum Katie has campaigned for awareness since he was little.
She has been open about the challenges the family faces as a result of Harvey’s diagnosis, and BBC doc Katie Price: What Harvey Did Next.
Some of those to reply to the story sided with the boy’s family.
One said: “A kid with Prader-Willi Syndrome has a real organic, very hard to control drive to eat food, it’s a seriously difficult disease to deal with.”
Another added: “I feel for the family because I’m sure it’s a very difficult condition to manage and causes a great deal of stress.”
However, not everyone agreed.
One person said: “Even if you didn’t have diabetes, people don’t get to come into public space and dictate anyone else’s acceptable behaviour.”
Another added: “You were absolutely correct.
“They had no right to refuse your food and yell at you for eating, this is a public conveyance and they do not own the plane.”
BBCKatie Price’s son Harvey also suffers from Prader-Willi, and she’s spoken openly of the challenges he faces[/caption] Read More