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Aussie woman with one leg denied entry into iconic tourist attractions

A young Australian performer with one leg has expressed her disbelief after being denied access to two iconic Paris tourist attractions.

Roya Hosini, whose stage name is Roya the Destroya, is originally from Melbourne but has been travelling the world, taking part in theatre production FRONTX.

Now based out of Brussels, the young circus performer says she has never let her disability prevent her from taking part in regular tourist activities – as her impressive acrobatic poses attest to on social media.

But accessing the likes of Paris’ Eiffel Tower and the city’s famed catacombs has not been so easy.

The circus performer called for iconic tourist destinations to change their access rules. Images: Instagram/Roya.thedestroya
The circus performer called for iconic tourist destinations to change their access rules. Images: Instagram/Roya.thedestroya

In an emotional Facebook post, Ms Hosini explained how, despite purchasing tickets, staff at both locations denied her entry – one of whom told her “it’s like having someone blind fly a plane”.

“[It’s] all due to legalities and a small phrase or clause written on a piece of paper,” Ms Hosini wrote in the post.

“I’ve never felt more disabled in my life than these type of moments,” she said.

“First it was the Eiffel Tower that denied me access to the top due to safety of others in case of emergency evacuation. Now it’s the (catacombs) denying me entry basically due to being ‘handicapped’.”

After a lengthy and unsuccessful debate with the staff, Ms Hosini said she spoke to the manager on the phone who ended up hanging up on her.

Ms Hosini told the ABC she watched on in disappointment as elderly and overweight tourists, as well as children were granted admission.

“Every case is unique, even every case that has one leg or every case that’s in a wheelchair. Every case is separate, you cannot just generalise that rule,” she said.

A spokesman for the Catacombs management apologised for the way Ms Abdolhosini was treated, describing it as an “unfortunate event that we deplore”.

“We do not tolerate this kind of behaviour; on the contrary, we try to welcome everybody in our sites,” the spokesperson told the ABC.