Three senior adults have alleged that TSA caused them undue hardships while traveling. A third elderly flier who relies on a medical device now claims to have been traumatized by a search at a Kennedy Airport security checkpoint, while traveling after Thanksgiving.
66 year old Linda Kallish, a Florida resident relies on an insulin pump and a stash of fruit juice to control a diabetic attack.
She says TSA screens kept her from the fruit juice for 10 minutes while she waited for a pat-down and a second search in which she had to partially remove clothing to show an official her pump implant.
Kallish’s ordeal happened on 11/29, the same exact day 85 year old Lenore Zimmerman, 85, from NY , ran into trouble with TSA at the same airport.
Zimmerman claims the TSA took her to a private area after she decided not to pass through a scanning machine for fear it would cause problems with her heart defibrillator. Once in the private room, she was ordered to remove some clothing and back brace, exposing her private areas. Zimmerman cut her leg in the process, and missed her flight, she said.
The day before at the same checkpoint, cancer survivor, 88 year old Ruth Sherman, 88, of Florida was forced to show TSA screeners her colostomy bag, which can cause pain if it is touched.
TSA officials maintain that in each case, its screeners followed procedures aimed at detecting threats from terrorists.