TSA hassles, detains 9-year-old boy with pacemaker

Share:

– In the near decade they’ve flown around the world together the Bergstrom family has never had problems with TSA — Let alone over 9-year-old Chille’s pacemaker — until Saturday morning at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix.

“Usually, they are friendly, they smile, they give him a sticker, a TSA sticker,” Chille’s mother, Ali Bergstrom, of Wyoming, Minnesota, told FOX 9.

Chille was born with Golden Hars Syndrome. The syndrome in Chille’s case includes four heart defects. The condition has forced Chille to endure 15 open heart surgeries, and requires he live with a pacemaker.

Due to Chille’s disability and pacemaker, the Bergstroms are required to request alternative screening anytime they fly. Every time they fly the Bergstroms also make sure to show TSA documentation supporting the screening modifications Chille requires to stay alive.

Despite his struggles, the little boy aspires to become a pilot. Each time the Bergstroms travel they make sure to arrive early, says mom, “He likes to watch the planes take off and land, talk to all the pilots hanging around,” Ali Bergstrom said.

Yet, what the Bergstroms encountered at a TSA Checkpoint inside Sky Harbor Airport was what they call traumatic and discriminatory. Ali worries it even tarnishes Chille’s dream.

“With all the years that we’ve been flying this has never happened,” Ali said after they were denied their usual expedited screening process Saturday.

Alternative screening allows Chille to forego walking through metal detectors and instead go through a safe, two-minute screening.

“We were told immediately by the TSA that he was not allowed to be screened alternatively and instead would need an exemption,” said Ali. – READ MORE

Share:
No Comments Yet

Leave a Reply

2021 © True Pundit. All rights reserved.