Chris Nicholson, an athlete and representative of the sports brand Myprotein, was traveling to speak at an event in London on Friday when the incident took place at Milton Keynes Station. The former rugby player had to cross to the other side of the station for a connecting train, but the elevator broke, forcing him to climb the stairs to 31 C (88 F). Nicholson said staff refused to help him use the stairs, saying he had been told they could not help him because of “health and safety policies and would be in danger if they helped me”. “I decided to go up the stairs, how? “Dragging my chair with one hand, pushing with one hand and folding my legs at every step!” wrote in an Instagram post. He described that he was “in agony and tears in the middle of the road”. Nicholson said another man had seen him fight and helped him carry his wheelchair before an assistant manager stepped in to carry his bags. “We are in 2022, access should be a given and not a privilege,” Nicholson said. He called for policies to be changed “so that everyone can be supported collectively”, adding: “Such things happen every day to people with different types of disabilities”. In a video, which was also posted on Instagram, Nicholson spoke in detail about the reasons he shared his experience on social media. “People like me who have different abilities than a capable person should have access to all amenities, just like anyone else. “It does not matter if you are in a wheelchair, if you are on crutches – you should have access to it,” he said. “The fact that people do not make things readily available to those with different backgrounds, different abilities is wrong. “The fact that things are not in place to cover them is wrong and the fact that people are treated differently is also wrong.” Nicholson, who has more than 28,000 followers on Instagram, said nearly 3,000 people had texted him saying they had similar experiences. “It’s absolutely shocking,” he said. A spokesman for Avanti West Coast said: “We have been informed of this incident and we are sorry to learn about the customer experience. “We have since been in contact with the customer – who arrived safely at his destination on Friday night. “We are also in contact with the London Northwestern Railway – the train operator responsible for managing Milton Keynes Station – as they investigate the circumstances of what happened.” The London Northwestern Railway declined to comment.