IMAGINE THIS WAS YOUR KID

[Duchess]

A Central California family decided to splurge on first-class plane tickets for the first time but were denied entry onto the plane because their son has Down Syndrome, they claim.

Joan and Robert Vanderhorst had flown without issue with their 16-year-old son Bede, who has Down Syndrome, at least 30 times, Robert told the New York Daily News.

This time, on a "lark," they decided to spend an extra $625 to fly first class. "My wife said, 'Oh Bede's never flown first class. He'll be so excited,'" Robert recounted.

And yet, while the family was waiting to board from Newark, New Jersey back home to their Porterville home, near Bakersfield on Sunday, an American Airlines representative pulled them aside and said the pilot thought Bede was a "flight risk."

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