TSA Harasses Sick 3-Year Old, Causes Family to Miss Flight

A woman claims that the TSA caused her and her sick 3-year-old to miss their flight.

Renee Bergeron's youngest son, Apollo, suffers from a rare heart defect and requires medically necessary formula. However the Transportation Security Administration didn't let it fly, Yahoo Shine reports.

"It's made flying with him miserable," Bergeron, a mother of 14, told Yahoo Shine. "Part of me gets it. There are terrorists. We need to keep people safe. The other part is irate."

Bergeron and Apollo were going through security at the Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle when trouble hit. They were on their way to California for a special photo shoot for a campaign that celebrates children with different physical conditions. "We were only flying because of his medical issues," Bergeron said.

Apollo has a double aortic arch, which has caused trachea and esophagus problems, which makes eating difficult. To ensure that he gets enough calories, he has a permanent gastronomy tube connected to his stomach, through which he receives a high-calorie formula three times a day. The cans of formula is what set the TSA off.

Bergeron was very straightforward with the TSA agent, hoping it would make the process easier. "I walked right up to the first agent and told her, 'My son is tube-fed and this cooler has formula and medical supplies in it,'" Bergeron said.

She said that the agent sent her and her bags through the X-ray scan, but the TSA agent didn't give a heads up to her co-workers. The agent operating the machine freaked out as the machine indicated that the cans had explosive residue on them.

"Clearly, the things that test for explosive residue don't work very well," she said, adding that, at that point, "they surrounded me and began treating me like a suspect-of what I don't know."

Apollo had to use the restroom but the TSA wouldn't allow Bergeron to take him alone. Then Bergeron was given a thorough pat-down in a private room while Apollo cried. He asked his mom to hold him but Bergeron claims the TSA wouldn't let her touch him as she would "contaminate" him.

"To make a long story short, the flight left without us," she wrote in her blog. "As it turns out, they don't hold flights for people suspected of carrying explosives onto the plane."

While the TSA wasn't helpful, Bergeron says United Airlines was accommodating and helped get them on another flight within a few hours. Bergeron is trying to file a formal complaint with the TSA but the government shutdown has prevented her from doing so.

The TSA released a statement to Yahoo Shine and said, "We regret that the family did not have a positive screening experience. We strongly encourage passengers with medical conditions to arrive at the checkpoint with ample time for screening. We are committed to maintaining the security of the traveling public and strive to treat all passengers with dignity and respect."