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Family leaves theater after complaints about man's ventilator

The experience blew up on social media shared more than 1,100 times. It prompted the theater to respond and issue a statement.
It was the Hollywood blockbuster Alex Barahona was dying to see, but he never got the chance to finish the movie.

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - It was the Hollywood blockbuster Alex Barahona was dying to see, but he never got the chance to finish the movie.

"I enjoyed the movie up until the time we had to leave," Barahona said.

Alex is quadriplegic. He'd settled into the Cinestar Theater in Huntsville with his parents. Halfway through the film, the manager approached Alex's dad. Tiny flashing lights on Alex's ventilator apparently were a problem.

"The man from over my shoulder says the lights to the ventilator were disrupting, so he asked if he could cover them with a towel. I said yeah, that's fine," said Will Barahona, Alex's dad.

But the manager went a step further.

"A couple seconds later he approached me and said, 'Can we talk?' I said, 'I'm trying to watch the movie,' and he says the sound is disrupting the customers," Will Barahona said.

Now the slight hum of his life support machine was the issue. The family says they told the manager they can't turn it off, ever.

"I can't breathe, and I'll die," Alex Barahona said. "The machine is my life support. Can't live without it."

The Barahona family says they felt humiliated, demanded a refund and left the theater.

"I was hurt," said Alex. "I had no words to describe the pain I was feeling at that moment."

The experience blew up on social media shared more than 1,100 times. It prompted the theater to respond and issue this statement:

"The family was never asked to leave the theater, nor was that ever the intention.

"Alex, the young man, was asked if we could cover the lights on the back of his chair, to which he agreed. After covering the lights, the manager then asked the man sitting next to Alex about the source of the noise. This seemed to offend the man and, as a response, a person from his group asked for their money to be refunded, to which the manager obliged. The group decided to leave the theater on their own and came to the front lobby, where they were issued a full refund.

"Alex has been a long time customer and we certainly do not want him to feel unwelcome due to this misunderstanding by others. We have been blessed to serve the community for over 50 years and pride ourselves on our family friendly pricing, so everyone can enjoy the movies."

This family now says that it may be the only theater in Hunstville, but nothing can ever make them go back again.

"What the manager did Saturday night is not acceptable in any certain manner, and I hope this doesn't happen to anybody else," Alex Barahona said.

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