Manchester Accessibility Failing Could Have Ended in Disaster

A fire alarm rings out. Staff begin evacuating. Panic, confusion, urgency—everything you'd expect in an emergency. Smoke fills the halls but in the middle of it all, one pupil is left behind. Not because they didn’t hear the alarm. Not because they were defiant. But because the systems designed to keep them safe weren’t designed for them. This isn’t the premise of a cautionary tale told in training rooms. It happened in Hyde, Greater Manchester.

"I started to smell smoke and because of my disability, I was worried about my immune system. If I got smoke into my lungs, who knows what would happen? " - Lucas Vezza-O'Brien, 16

One Story, Many Realities

What happened in that school is one example of something disabled people across the UK live with every day: being placed at risk, excluded, or treated as an afterthought in environments where accessibility isn’t proactively planned for.

I’ve worked in critical incident management and accessibility policy across government, private sector, and regulated industries. I can tell you, failures like this are not rare. They just rarely make the news. Accessibility is often approached reactively. Adjustments are made only after harm, complaint, or legal challenge. But by then, the damage is already done, emotionally, physically, or worse. All schools to have evacuation chairs for students who use wheelchairs, all spaces where you are responsible for evacuation should.

Accessibility in Public Services Should Never Be Optional

Schools are public services. They are subject to safeguarding regulations, which makes it a legal requirement to anticipate the needs of disabled people, not just respond to them.

Emergency evacuation plans should be in place and regularly tested for all pupils, including those with mobility, sensory, or cognitive impairments. This includes equipment like evacuation chairs and Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs).

It should not fall to a child or their parents to remind a school that their life matters in a fire.

Schools are among the most tightly regulated environments in the UK. If a basic failure like this can happen in a place where safety is regularly reviewed, it raises urgent questions about workplaces, hospitals, shopping centres, housing blocks, and transport systems.

Do those environments have inclusive evacuation planning? Would disabled people be left behind? Is anyone even checking?

Now here's the kicker...

"The fire service told the school 'leave the wheelchair users' and we'll come to evacuate them from the building." - Lucas Vezza-O'Brien, 16

In terms of the guidance given, the school did nothing wrong here. This was, in some ways, part of the plan. This was a lack of foresight and critical thinking on behalf of the school for not finding an alternative but they did comply as they were instructed. The issue is not the school here, it's the system.

Lucas was failed by the system as so many disabled people are every day and his life could have been ended because of it, as so many disabled people could every day.

The Cultural Shift Starts with Digital Accessibility

While this story is about a physical environment, there’s an important link to the digital world. When organisations commit to digital accessibility, whether in websites, internal tools, or communications, they start building a culture of inclusion.

Some of the biggest drivers of change begin in the digital world. When teams learn to design accessible websites, documents, and tools, they start to understand what it means to anticipate access needs rather than retrofit them. They learn to plan before someone is excluded. That mindset spreads into building design, policy-making, and emergency response.

Digital accessibility isn’t just a tech issue. It’s a training ground for inclusive thinking.

Nobody Should Have to Campaign to Be Evacuated Safely

The teenager at the centre of this story is now campaigning for better safety standards. Their story should never have had to become public for action to be taken—but now that it has, we must all ask: what would happen in our own buildings if the fire alarm went off today?

If you don’t know the answer or if you know it wouldn’t be good that is your starting point.

Accessibility is not a niche issue. It’s a fundamental measure of whether a society is fit for everyone to live, work, and learn in. Let’s make sure that when the next alarm sounds, no one gets left behind.

Sign the Petition raised by young Lucas Vezza-O'Brien to say you believe we can do better.