Boston Bombing Survivor Kicked out of T.J. Maxx Because of Service Dog
Boston Marathon bombing survivor Sydney Corcoran was recently forced to leave a New Hampshire T.J. Maxx after the manager objected to the use of her service dog.
As a result of the bombing that left her lying bloodied near her mother who lost both of her legs, 19-year-old Corcoran suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. She spoke to NewsCenter 5, via the New York Daily News, about how it was very clear that the animal was a service dog:
"He had on his service dog vest — bright blue, says 'service dog' all over it. The store manager came over to me and said to me, 'If you want to keep your dog in the store, you have to put him in the carriage.'"
She added, "He's crucial to my everyday life." The manager later apologized, after Corcoran's mom, Celeste Corcoran, got involved, but forgiveness won't come that easily:
"(The manager) said, 'I'm sorry.' And I said, 'That's not good enough. You should have known. You just made someone with an emotional disorder so much worse." ...
"There are so many people with invisible, silent injuries. And the public needs to be aware that their service animals are sometimes their lifeline.
The NY Daily News reports that T.J. Maxx released a statement following the incident to apologize, and vowed to "take steps to ensure employees follow the law to admit service animals."
