UPDATE, 5/1: Fox News interviewed Jerry Meekins about the incident on Tuesday (check it out above). Meekins called the situation "unconscionable".
PREVIOUSLY: Two weeks after buying a $197 airline ticket to visit his daughter in New Jersey, Florida resident Jerry Meekins found out he had terminal cancer and could no longer fly.
The 76-year-old veteran contacted Spirit Airlines, explained his situation and asked for his money back, but a company representative said that all tickets were nonrefundable, no exceptions, News Channel 8 reports.
Meekins, who had been battling esophageal cancer for some time, offered to provide evidence of his diagnosis, but the company still denied his request.
News Channel 8 obtained a statement from Spirit Airlines that said, although they empathized with Meekins, making an exception would open up the floodgates with other customers dealing with similar situations:
"We receive many requests for refunds every day for similar situations. It wouldn't be fair to bend policy for one and not all. We will not make customers who follow the rules pay for those who don't. It's just not fair."
Now, Meekins is asking the company to alter its policy and consider customers with special situations like his.
"This was never just about the money," he told the Tampa Bay Times.
According to FOX 13, Spirit Airlines offered Meekins a credit, but he said the offer did no good for him.
On April 24, Meekins protested outside the airport with a sign that read: "Corporate greed is spelled Spirit Airlines," the Tampa Bay Times reports.
He plans to picket the airline at Tampa International Airport several days this week.
Spirit Airlines, which has called itself the "most consumer-friendly airline," isn't the only company that has dealt with a situation like Meekins'.
In 2011, Lynn McKain purchased five non-refundable tickets for a vacation in Belize. Doctors soon told the woman her cancer had returned, and when U.S. Airways refused to return her money, she complained and sparked online criticism about the company.
The airlines eventually issued a full refund.