Amputee war hero kicked off train 'because he couldn't prove he was disabled'

A war hero who lost a leg fighting in Afghanistan claims he wasn’t allowed to board a train because he couldn’t prove he was disabled, despite showing a staff member his prosthetic leg.

Andy Grant, 28, was travelling from London to Liverpool on a Virgin train but had his wallet stolen in a café close to the station, according to The Mirror.

Mr Grant was hurt in an explosion in 2009.

He had to have his right leg amputated the following year.

Mr Grant told the Liverpool Echo he was instructed to buy another ticket after his wallet, money and disability railcard went missing.

In a Facebook video, he said he had an e-ticket on him but was asked to produce a disability card, which was in his missing wallet. He then explained to a female staff member he was missing a leg.

“I replied because ‘I got blown up in Afghanistan’, and lifted my trouser leg up,” Mr Grant posted on Facebook.

“At this point I was In disbelief at the lack of common sense and walked past her to explain directly to the train manager when the police/security came running down, grabbed me and starting pulling me away, saying, ‘tough, you have been told’.”

It appears at this point Mr Grant started filming, explaining his predicament, pulled away by a police officer in high-vis.

Mr Grant, who holds the record for being the world’s fastest single-leg amputee and is an Invictus Games athlete, said he found it disheartening to have to prove his disability.

“I’ve worked really hard to get myself to a level of fitness where no one can really tell about disability unless I show them,” he said.

“I wasn’t asking for special treatment. I would never ask for the rules to be bent for me but I just think with a little bit more compassion and common sense the whole drama could have been avoided.”

Luckily, Mr Grant found a friend at the train station who purchased a ticket for him.

He also tweeted about his experience, calling out Richard Branson and Virgin Trains.

His tweets have gone viral with many condemning his treatment.

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson also got in touch and offered to pay for his trip over the phone.

One Twitter user shared photos of Mr Grant in his army gear.

“FYI, this is Andy Grant. We should be carrying him home on our shoulders if needs be,” he tweeted.

A spokesperson for Virgin Trains said the company had been in touch with Mr Grant.

“We’re very sorry to hear about Andy’s experience and we’ve asked him to get in touch with us so we can resolve this for him,” they said.