The grubby media sure do love a story like this! They play on the sympathy card a LOT! The guy was obviously unsuitable to be located in an emerg exit row but how did he get there in the first place? The trolley dollies are meant to be checking every boarding pass upon entering the cabin, exit rows would be well known so these people should never make it to their exit row seats in the first place! The Airlines should perhaps make it policy that anyone booking online for their seat that selects an exit row (and pays for it) has to check in at the counter beforehand to prove their suitability?
Flying is so common these days that there would be very few rules not known by very few people.