Father Christmas Disappointment

A young boy from Merseyside missed out on a long awaited trip to see Santa Claus because he was in a wheelchair.

Father Christmas

Four year old Alfie Philips, who has cerebral palsy, had been excited about meeting Santa as a birthday treat after spending a long week in intensive care.  His mum, Pearl, spent £100 for tickets to Gulliver’s World in Warrington so that the family could enjoy a day out and Alfie and his sister Gracie could meet Santa.

When the family joined the queue for the Santa Express train they were told that they would have to leave Alfie’s wheelchair behind.  Alfie’s dad, Marc, held him in the queue, but after half an hour they were both too uncomfortable to wait any longer and were left with no choice but to leave.

Upset and Disappointed

Alfie’s mum, Pearl, comments: “Alfie was really upset and it was getting impossible for his dad to carry him any longer so they left the queue.  I waited with Gracie but it took us two hours to reach the front while Alfie and his dad had to wait outside for us in the cold and rain.”

Pearl claimed that Gulliver’s World theme park was made aware of her son’s needs when she booked the expensive tickets.  A spokesman for the park said:  “They should have been made aware of an alternative wheelchair entrance and we can only apologise that this information was not communicated to them on the day.”