CABELL COUNTY, WV (WSAZ/CNN) – The family of a 12-year-old girl who is disabled says they left a movie theater following a lack of compassion from a manager who told them the girl’s breathing was disturbing the screening.
Shannon Davis and her wife Gina have adopted four children, including 12-year-old Charlie, whom they adopted four years ago.
"She's a victim of shaken baby syndrome. It rendered her blind and quadriplegic. She didn't know what a mom was until we taught her," Shannon Davis said.
The family went to see "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" Saturday night at a Barboursville, WV, Cinemark movie theater.
Charlie loves going to the movies, according to her mother Shannon Davis.
"It's her favorite thing because they offer audio-described headsets,” Shannon Davis said.
The family was seated in the wheelchair-accessible section, and a man was sitting directly in front of them.
"She can't talk, so she wasn't vocalizing or yelling, but she was breathing fast," Shannon Davis said. "She was very excited to get to do her favorite thing."
Shannon Davis says the man in front of them complained to the manager that Charlie was making too much noise and that the family was ultimately asked to leave the theater.
A spokesperson for Cinemark explained that more than one person complained about the girl’s "labored breathing," which they say was causing a disruption in the theater. They deny the family was directly asked to leave.
According to the spokesperson, after the customers complained, a manager stood in the theater, listening during quiet and action-filled scenes, and determined Charlie’s breathing was "making it difficult to hear the movie’s audio."
The Davis family says it was about half an hour into the movie when an employee approached them. The Cinemark spokesperson says that employee was the manager.
Shannon Davis and the manager stepped into the hallway, where the manager "asked if anything could be done to help soften the loud breathing noise," according to the spokesperson.
Shannon Davis says the conversation was heartbreaking.
"He said her breathing was too much for everybody, I guess," she said. "On top of everything else she has to deal with, she would be shamed and embarrassed and hurt, knowing that somebody thought her breathing was so intolerable."
The manager offered to host a private screening of the movie for them and to refund their tickets.
But the Davises say the offers weren’t good enough, so they decided to leave.
"We just want the precedent set and maybe for them to teach their employees how to handle the situation better in the future," Shannon Davis said.
Cinemark again extended a private screening option to the family when they released a statement regarding the incident.
"We regret that this difficult situation negatively affected the movie-going experience in our theater," the statement read.
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