Motivational speaker Johnnie Tuitel, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, was kicked off a US Airways flight after being told he was too disabled to fly alone.

“I’m thinking, oh no, something happened to a family member. They’re not going to haul me off the plane for nothing … and the guy says to me ‘we have made the determination that you, sir, are too disabled to fly alone,'” Tuitel told students. “I’m laughing; I think he’s kidding.”

Tuitel, who had flown over 500,000 miles speaking at conferences, missed a conference after being held up in Florida after he was removed from his flight.

“I was so mad, I was going to sue the airlines. Then I went to bed and I slept on it, and I woke up the next morning and I didn’t want to sue the airlines,” Tuitel said.

Tuitel told his story to students on Monday as a part of OU’s African-American Celebration month.

He shared his life experiences growing up with cerebral palsy, the obstacles he has overcome and stories about his parents and his three children.

“I had heard about what a great speaker he was, and you really saw that today, even within the first few minutes of him speaking, you could tell that he was such a charismatic, positive and motivating person,” Students Towards Understanding Disabilities volunteer coordinator,  Jenny Pohl said.

Tuitel has spoken to students at colleges and organizations around the country on the fundamentals of citizenship, community service and leadership.

“The students came to me with a couple of different ideas on who they wanted to bring to campus, and then we all decided to bring Johnnie because he is local…and the experience he went through was pretty powerful,” director of the Disability Support Services, Linda Sisson said.

Tuitel started his speech by asking students in the crowd what they think when they see people in wheelchairs.

“I bungee jump frequently, I skydive frequently, I coach varsity basketball and I have three children to my knowledge…so I don’t see myself as limited. What was beautiful about that was the stereotype,” Tuitel told students.

Tuitel spoke about a variety of life experiences and obstacles he has overcome as an individual with cerebral palsy. These experiences  include learning how to snow ski, ice skate and ultimately being kicked off an airplane after being deemed too disabled to fly alone.

Tuitel has done over 900 radio interviews, spoken with newspapers around the country and has appeared on Fox & Friends to share his story.

Tuitel is currently in negotiations with US Airways on changing company policy.

“When it comes to disabilities or any segregated population in the country, we have to stop segregating ourselves. We need to work together as a unit and help each other out,” Tuitel told students.

S.T.U.D. president, Aiana Scott, said the opportunity to hear Tuitel speak was touching and life changing.

“He was amazing. Even though I’ve had a disability my whole entire life, hearing him speak made me realize how much a disability is in the mind, and it made me realize that I’m not disabled … It really helped me deal with my fear and my concerns,” Scott said.