Emily
Editor, Senior Moderator
The lives of the disabled matter, too. Every life matters.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/02/disabled-cancer-patient-tsa-lawsuit-memphis-airport
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/02/disabled-cancer-patient-tsa-lawsuit-memphis-airport
[h=1]Disabled cancer patient slammed to the ground by TSA guards, lawsuit claims[/h] Hannah Cohen, 18, was on her way home from St Jude?s Hospital when a scanner went off and led to incident that left her ?physically and emotionally? injured
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A brain tumor had left Hannah blind in one eye, deaf in one ear and partially paralyzed, so when the guards grabbed each of her arms it startled her, she said. Photograph: Courtesy of Shirley Cohen
Matthew Teague in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Saturday 2 July 2016 09.17 EDT A disabled teenage cancer patient was injured during a violent arrest by security agents at Memphis international airport, her family has alleged in a lawsuit filed against the Transport Security Administration.
Hannah Cohen, 18, at the time of her arrest on 30 June 2015, and her mother had been on their way home to Chattanooga from St Jude?s hospital in Memphis, where Hannah underwent her final treatment for a brain tumor.
Hannah and her mother, Shirley, told the Guardian that the pair had made the trip hundreds of times, and knew the airport security routine well. Shirley would usually go through the scanner first and wait for Hannah on the other side, since Hannah?s tumor, and numerous surgeries and treatments since she was two years old, had left her easily confused and frightened in unfamiliar situations.
According to the complaint, the warning alarm was triggered when Hannah passed through the body scanners. Hannah attributed the alarm to her shirt?s design.
?My shirt ? it had sequins,? Hannah told the Guardian, laboring to speak. According to the complaint:
?You could see on the screen what it was pointing out,? Shirley said. She stood to the side, watching, wearing an immobilization boot on a broken foot...