Ex-BBC presenter stranded by airline because he has Parkinson's

A former BBC presenter was left stranded by Turkish Airlines after they demanded a doctor's letter to allow him to fly because he has Parkinson's Disease.

Mark Mardell was left on the verge of tears after the airline prevented him from boarding his flight from Istanbul to London Gatwick without a GP letter saying he was fit to travel. 

The 68-year-old, who was diagnosed with the degenerative neurological condition three years ago, spent seven hours stranded at the airport alone.

Mr Mardell, a father-of-three from Surrey, previously served as BBC News's Europe and North America editor and hosted The World This Weekend on BBC Radio 4.

He had travelled to Istanbul with his son Jake, 32, for a road trip and faced no problems when he arrived in Turkey on a Wizz Air flight on October 20.

But on his return he was barred from boarding his flight after checking in his suitcase and left alone as his son took a separate flight.

'Let's be clear: this isn't about paperwork. It's prejudice dressed up as policy. It's ignorant, insulting, and frankly medieval,' Mr Mardell wrote on Facebook. 

'Rest assured, I wasn't drunk, violent, or even late. No, my sin was having Parkinson's.

'They told us I couldn't board without a doctor's letter. At first, I thought they wanted proof that I had Parkinson's, which was absurd enough. But no - the letter had to say I was safe to fly.

'Apparently, Turkish Airlines has decided that people with Parkinson's are a danger to themselves or others.'

He also claimed one employee told him 'look at you, your hands are shaking'. 

'I feel so humiliated. It's this terrible feeling that you are so vulnerable. I nearly burst into tears about five times,' Mr Mardell told The Times.

Shaking is a well-known symptom of Parkinson's but the former presenter said he was shaking because of stress. 

Mr Mardell was eventually offered help by another passenger who guided him to a different part of the airport, where he was able to collect his baggage after several hours. 

His son booked him a hotel and a flight back to London on Wizz Air the next day, October 26.

The airline did not ask for any fit to fly letter from his GP and he returned home. 

Mardell later complained to Turkish Airlines about his treatment and an employee wished him a 'speedy recovery' although his disease in incurable.

Turkish Airlines states on its website that passengers with Parkinson's can be 'admitted to the flight with a doctor's report stating that there is no harm in traveling by plane'.  

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the UK's independent aviation regulator, said the policy is unlawful but it has no authority to enforce regulation over Turkish Airlines - a non-UK or EU carrier. 

On Wednesday, the ex-BBC anchor said he received a phone call from ther airline who offered him a full refund for his missed flight. 

Turkish Airlines have been contacted for comment.  

Speaking about his condition in 2022, Mr Mardell said he had 'lost a bit of my boom'.

'And I'm getting used to being the quietest person in the room rather than the loudest.

'But generally it's in the stage of just being annoying rather than anything terrible.' 

Parkinson's disease is a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years, according to the NHS website.

The three main symptoms of the condition are involuntary shaking of particular parts of the body, known as tremors, slow movement and stiff and inflexible muscles.

Reflecting on when he first spotted the symptoms, Mardell explained: 'I started thinking at the beginning of the year, Waitrose are making their packaging really hard to get into these days.

'What's this about?

'And then I found my arms suddenly lifting above my head for no particular reason, or at least staying there.'

Parkinson's: The disease that struck down boxer Muhammad Ali 

Parkinson's disease affects one in 500 people, and around 127,000 people in the UK live with the condition.

Figures also suggest one million Americans also suffer.

It causes muscle stiffness, slowness of movement, tremors, sleep disturbance, chronic fatigue, an impaired quality of life and can lead to severe disability.

It is a progressive neurological condition that destroys cells in the part of the brain that controls movement.

Sufferers are known to have diminished supplies of dopamine because nerve cells that make it have died.

There is currently no cure and no way of stopping the progression of the disease, but hundreds of scientific trials are underway to try and change that.  

The disease claimed the life of boxing legend Muhammad Ali in 2016.