A mom has blasted a Southwest Airlines flight attendant who she says told her to glue her two-year-old daughter's mask to her face when the child refused to wear it on a flight from Florida to Virginia.
Ali Cleek, was traveling from Orlando to Norfolk, Virginia, last week when her daughter, Drew, started crying and refused to keep on her mask.
The mom of two says Drew wanted to suck her thumb, which is the girl's way of self-soothing.
Cleek claims the flight attendant gave the family two choices: cut a hole in the mask or glue it to Drew's face.
'I really don't have words….. I'm still shaking,' Cleek wrote in an Instagram post.
'I don't like being this person. Wearing a mask is the federal mandate… I get it. I respect it. But at some point we have to have human decency. Compassion.'
Ali Cleek spoke out on social media after she claims a flight attendant told her to glue her two-year-old daughter's mask to her face. Her daughter, Drew (pictured), was crying on the family's Southwest flight and refused to keep on her mask because she wanted to suck her thumb
In an interview Monday with Fox News, Cleek described herself as a 'rule follower' and said she does not want to come across as an anti-masker, but also notes the incident had her in tears.
Cleek shared that she and her husband were actively trying to calm Drew down and get her to wear the mask as two flight attendants stood over them.
'The flight attendant told me two things. 1. We could cut a hole in it (her sarcasm was absolutely ridiculous and infuriating) OR 2. We could GLUE IT TO HER FACE,' she wrote.
Cleek said the family was 'doing everything [they] could to comply'.
'Drew is a thumb sucker and her only way she biologically knows how to soothe herself is by sucking her thumb which is damn near impossible with a mask,' Cleek's post reads.
She furthered her explanation, telling the news outlet: 'I just know that regardless if it was sarcasm or not I was embarrassed and trying to follow the mandate as much as I could.'
The family (pictured at Universal Studios last week) claims they were actively trying to calm Drew down and get her to wear the mask
Cleek (pictured with her family at a birthday party in July) said the flight attendant gave the family two choices: cut a hole in the mask or glue it to Drew's face
Cleek says that since the incident an airline customer service representative contacted her to apologize.
'They said they would essentially talk to the flight crew,' she said.
The mother hopes Southwest will communicate with all employees to prevent a situation like this from happening again.
'I know I never want another parent to be in tears on an airplane because their 2-year-old won't wear a mask. I really don't want parents to feel like they have to hold down their child to put on a mask. I also don't want to feel like I can't travel with my kids by plane,' she said.
When contacted by DailyMail.com, Cleek declined to comment further.
Meanwhile, in a statement obtained by Fox, Southwest failed to acknowledge the incident and reiterated that the federal mask mandate for travelers has been in effect since February and 'requires all passengers over the age of two to wear a mask at all times throughout the travel journey'.
'We [Southwest] appreciate the ongoing
