Family Says Minister Stricken By Stroke Was Ignored For 2 Days At Airport

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ A minister's family says he was stranded for two days at Florida's Orlando International Airport after he apparently suffered a stroke. <br/><br/>Airport officials say they

Saturday, August 18th 2007, 4:17 pm

By: News On 6

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ A minister's family says he was stranded for two days at Florida's Orlando International Airport after he apparently suffered a stroke.

Airport officials say they are still trying to determine what happened to the Rev. Kenneth Davis between the time he arrived in Orlando on Monday aboard an AirTran flight and when he was discovered Wednesday on a curb outside the airport.

Davis, 72-year-old pastor of Immanuel Outreach Centre Church of God in Christ, has been hospitalized in Orlando, recovering from a stroke, his family said.

Shortly after he arrived in Florida, he told airport officials he wasn't feeling well and asked for a wheelchair, said Judy Graham-Weaver, an AirTran spokeswoman. A skycap helped Davis retrieve his luggage and took him to an outside curb, where Davis said he would wait for a ride to his hotel, she said.

While waiting, Davis called his wife, Joyce, in Wichita. He told her he wasn't feeling well and was waiting for his ride.

``That call was the last time I heard from him,'' she said.

Graham-Weaver said the skycap went inside to help a passenger, and ``when he came back out, he (Davis) was gone.''

Family members became alarmed when Davis didn't show up Tuesday at the Gospel Music Workshop of America, and they discovered that he hadn't checked into his hotel, Joyce Davis said.

On Wednesday afternoon, a skycap found Davis outside the airport, according to the police report.

Airport officials were investigating and reviewing surveillance tapes, said airport spokesman Rod Johnson.

``I can tell you this right off the top: he did not stay in one location,'' Johnson said.

Davis' son, Kenneth Davis Jr., said his father's stroke had left him unable to speak clearly.