When Jaelynn Chaney touched down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in May 2024, she expected the wheelchair assistance she’d requested in advance—something that had always been part of her travel routine. But what happened next, according to the plus-size travel influencer, was anything but routine.

Chaney, 28, says that upon arrival at SeaTac, the employee assigned to help her visibly reacted to her size—then turned and walked away without a word.

“She saw me, made a face, and walked away,” Chaney recounted in a TikTok video shared with her 140,000+ followers. “All the other passengers received assistance. I was left behind.”

Though she can walk short distances, Chaney—who wears a size 6XL—regularly requests wheelchair service to navigate long terminals. Without it that day, she says she was forced to walk the full length of one of the airport’s longest jet bridges, a trek that nearly made her pass out.

“My lips went white. My oxygen levels dropped. I was lightheaded. I almost fainted,” she said. “This was my first time flying without oxygen. That employee made a dangerous assumption about what I could physically handle.”

As part of her protest, Chaney returned to SeaTac with a sign that read “Wheelchair Access for All,” using her platform to call out what she described as institutional discrimination.