Canadian Paralympian Lauren Barwick says her electric wheelchair was badly damaged when it was left outside during a storm when her American Airlines flight was delayed on Sunday.

Five days later, the frustrated athlete said she doesn't understand why the airline is taking so long to deal with her claims of damage to "Norman" — a $26,000 electric wheelchair that is crucial for her mobility and has been specially modified for her to work with horses.

Since then the airline has responded, and apologized.

"We are in contact directly with Ms. Barwick, as we work to repair her wheelchair; teams across our airlines have been in touch with her daily. We also provided a temporary wheelchair for her, until her wheelchair is fixed — at our expense."

"We apologize, and are doing everything we can to take care of Ms. Barwick," American Airlines Media Relations wrote in an email to CBC.

History of not giving up

The 38-year-old B.C. native started horse riding as a young girl, before she was paralyzed from the waist down. In 2000, she broke her back when a bale of hay fell on her but she decided to keep pursuing her passion.

Since her accident, she has gone on to win a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in para-equestrian competition.

She posted photos of the damaged wheelchair on Facebook.

'The back cushion was so wet and when I sat against it, water actually gushed out on to the floor,' says Barwick. (Lauren Barwick/Facebook)

Barwick was en route from Florida to Vancouver for an orientation session to prepare for the Rio 2016 Olympics when her plane was delayed for almost two hours during a storm in Orlando.

When the plane landed in Phoenix for a layover, she was first brought her manual wheelchair.

"The back cushion was so wet and when I sat against it, water actually gushed out on to the floor. And I thought, that's odd."

When her electric wheelchair was brought to her, she plugged in the battery and tried to turn it on, but she said it was dead.

"And when I picked up the cushion, it was so wet that water gushed out. Everything was drenched."

Barwick's electric wheelchair did not turn on when it arrived in Phoenix, she says. (Lauren Barwick/Facebook)

Later when she arrived in Vancouver, the electric wheelchair did turn on, but she's not convinced it's safe for her to use.

American Airlines also lost Barwick's bag of medical supplies — which she had marked as priority — and it took three days for it to be returned.

Barwick is not sure how long it will take American Airlines agents to help fix the damage to wheelchair. In the meantime, Barwick is making do with a manual wheelchair while Norman is being shipped back to Orlando.

"I understand bags getting lost and things getting broken, but I don't understand their process," Barwick said of the airline.

"The person who put that powered chair on the plane soaking wet knew it was wet and knew that we were in trouble," she said. "And someone should have said, before this poor person arrived in Phoenix and discovers it like that, we need to take action."

American Airlines has not said when her wheelchair will be fixed, according to Barwick. (Lauren Barwick/Facebook)

"I can understand leaving bags out during a lightning storm. It can be dangerous... but they wouldn't left a human being out on the tarmac and my chairs are part of me. They're my livelihood. They're my everything."