Kevin Key and his wife, Nelisa, an African American couple from Richmond, Virginia, shared that they experienced a distressing situation at a Starbucks when they were denied water during a medical emergency. The staff refused to assist them because they hadn’t waited in line. Kevin, who is living with Stage 4 kidney failure, urgently needed ice water to prevent his condition from worsening, but was told to wait.
The incident happened on March 30 while they were at Short Pump Town Center to attend a comedy show. Suddenly, Kevin began sweating, leaned over, and started vomiting. Nelisa, recognizing the signs from his past health episodes, quickly ran inside the nearest Starbucks to get water. She explained the emergency to customers in line, who kindly let her go ahead.
When she reached the counter and requested water from the barista, she was told twice that she needed to wait in line like everyone else. Even after pointing to her visibly ill husband outside, she was still denied service. Kevin later explained that the delay could have had serious consequences for his health.
“What should have taken less than 10 seconds turned into a nightmare,” he told WLBT. “I could’ve blacked out. It could’ve seriously affected my body. My kidneys might have completely shut down.”
Fortunately, Nelisa saw the Capital One Café across from Starbucks and rushed in. An employee immediately handed her a cup of ice water. Kevin drank it and felt better almost instantly. Weeks later, the couple returned to thank the employee personally for her quick and kind response.
Starbucks later issued an apology, saying they had contacted the couple and that staff would be retrained to better handle emergency situations with empathy and care. However, they added that all water requests are typically processed at the register to avoid disrupting store operations.
Although they were given a gift card, Nelisa said it wasn’t enough to make things right. “That day, Starbucks had the choice between policy and humanity—and they chose policy,” she said.
The story ends with a note of hope: Kevin has found a kidney match through his sister-in-law and is scheduled for a transplant in July.
