Sawyer, a Michigan special education teacher was flying from Detroit to Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 7. He was selected for additional security screening. A bladder cancer survivor, Sawyer wears an urostomy bag. A urostomy is a plastic bag attached to one’s stomach that is designed to collect urine.
Sawyer stated that when he passed through the security scanner at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the scanner picked up his urostomy bag, and he was selected for additional screening in the form of a pat-down. Due to his medical issues, he asked if he could be screened in private.
To accommodate his medical condition, Sawyer wears pants two sizes too large. Prior to and during the search, he informed and warned TSA inspectors to be cautious for fear that unprofessional and insufficiently trained staff would break the seal on his bag. The agents did indeed break the seal on the bag, spilling his urine all over him. Humiliated, upset and wet, Sawyer, embarrassed and soaking in his own urine, had to walk through the airport. He still boarded his plane but had to wait until after takeoff before he could clean up.
Despite the increasing number of incidents occurring like this, the head of the TSA stated that there are no plans to change the enhanced pat-down procedures. According to statistics provided by the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, there are hundreds of thousands of people living with ostomies in the United States. Unfortunately, TSA agents are not trained to listen when someone tells them they have a health issue or even know what an ostomy is.
America is the home of the free and the land of liberty. It is sad that terrorist have scared so many into giving up these precious precepts. Even worse is the fact that people with disabilities — like having an ostomy — should not be afraid of flying because they’re afraid of being humiliated by TSA agents.
