Main Category: Bones / Orthopedics
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 17 Dec 2012 - 0:00 PST
Current ratings for:
12-Year-Old Wheelchair Bound Girl Detained At Dallas Airport - TSA Apologizes Today
| Patient / Public: |  |
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| Healthcare Prof: |  | 4.83 (6 votes) |
| Article opinions: | 7 posts |
Shelbi Wasler, 12, who has Brittle Bone Disease, was left in tears in her wheelchair with no access to her mother for one hour at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Texas, after her hands were swabbed and tested positive for explosives.
During the hour it took for explosives experts to appear, Shelbi was made to sit on her own, sobbing in front of hundreds of people - her mother was not allowed to get close and comfort her, despite appeals. No TSA staff came to comfort her either. Video footage emerged of her ordeal, which caused a public outcry.
Shelbi travels to Florida with Tammy Daniels, her mother, twice a year for treatment for brittle bone disease.
This happened over one week ago, and the girl says she is still traumatized by it all.
In an interview with RadarOnline.com, Shelby said:
"I didn't know what was going to happen and what they were going to do to me. (I thought they might) take me away.
It's going to make me a little nervous because I don't know if I'm going to test positive again. I'm going to have to wash my hands before I go through security."
Tammy Daniels explained that during her detention she told her mother that she just wanted to go home and did not want to take the flight to Florida.
Why did TSA test her hands but not the wheelchair for explosive substances?
People who use wheelchairs are continuously touching the wheels, which pick stuff up from the ground. The TSA staff did not test the wheels to determine whether explosive residues may have transferred to her hands from the wheels.Ms Daniels believes that rather than explosives, most likely Shelbi had picked up traces of some fertilizer on her hands via the wheels.
While Shelbi was placed in front of a table, on her own, in full view of hundreds of passengers, she was offered candy and tissues as she cried, but not from any airport or TSA staff, but by traveling bystanders.
In an interview with Fox News, the mother said that a bomb specialist eventually arrived and a number of security personnel and agents started talking on their mobile phones while other passengers called out in defense of Shelby. Shelby explained later "There were people saying, 'Really? You're going to do this to her? You will all have to take her somewhere private where she's not out in the public and everyone can see her.'"
The mother and daughter were then suddenly told they were free to go. There was no explanation of what had happened, whether it was a false alarm, a mistake... nothing.
UPDATE (17th December, 2012)
The TSA issued the following statement to CBS today:
"We regret that the experience of this young lady was not a positive one as we always strive to screen passengers with dignity and respect while ensuring the safety of all travelers. Everything TSA does is designed to protect against another terrorist attack. In all likelihood, this traveler would have presented no risk, yet we could take no chances. She alarmed for explosive residue and TSA took the necessary steps to resolve the alarm."
The mother politely suggested that TSA staff go back to some basic retraining "... they need to go back to the drawing board on this one."
What is Brittle Bone Disease (Osteogenesis imperfecta)?
Brittle bone disease, medically known as Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), or Lobstein Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that causes the bones to fracture easily. Patients are born with defective connective tissue, or their bodies cannot make connective tissue, usually because of problems with Type-I collagen production. The disease is not connected in any way to the calcium component of bone, which X-rays tend to show.There are eight different types of Brittle Bone Diseases, with varying levels of severity. Even though the syndrome is incurable, the symptoms in most cases are manageable. Doctors and other professionals sometimes mistake Brittle Bone Disease for child abuse.
Some children with Brittle Bone Disease develop fractures while still in the womb, i.e. they are born with broken bones. Others experience their first fractures either soon after birth or many years later. In some cases there are so few fractures during childhood that an accurate diagnosis is not made until much later on in life.
Experts say the bones of a patient with Osteogenesis imperfecta "do not behave in a brittle way". Bones may not break when we expect them to, as may occur from an injury.
In all types of Osteogenesis imperfecta, the incidence of fracture typically goes down when the patient becomes a teenager and continues becoming a less common occurrence during adulthood. Nobody really knows why.
Patients with Brittle Bone Disease often have other signs and symptoms, apart from bone fractures, which may include:
According to the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation, USA, between 25,000 and 50,000 Americans are thought to be affected with the disease. The Brittle Bone Society, UK, estimates that 1 in 15,000 people in the UK has Brittle Bone Disease.Treatment for Brittle Bone Disease includes:
- Focusing on minimizing fractures, increasing mobility, and improving independent function and overall health
- Braces to support wrists, ankles, knees and legs
- Drugs to strengthen the bones
- Mobility aids, such as wheelchairs, walkers, canes, as well as other devices to help the patient become more independent and to compensate for short stature and/or weakness
- Physical therapy. Patients are encouraged to do targeted exercises, often in a swimming pool
- Surgery, e.g. implanting rods to support the long bones in the limbs
- Wraps, splints and casts for broken bones
Infants with the most severe forms tend to die at birth or during infancy.
The most common cause of death for patients with Brittle Bone Disease is respiratory failure.
Most people with Osteogenesis imperfecta lead successful and productive lives, they go to school, develop social lives and other relationships, have children, do sports, and are active members of the community.
Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
Sources: Wikipedia, Fox News, The Daily Mail, RadarOnline.com, Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation, and the Brittle Bone Society
MLA
n.p. "12-Year-Old Wheelchair Bound Girl Detained At Dallas Airport - TSA Apologizes Today." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 17 Dec. 2012. Web.
23 Dec. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/254144.php>
APA
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Visitor Opinions (latest shown first)
PuttPutt - three cheers for Mary Robinson
posted by Ronald E Putnam on 17 Dec 2012 at 5:09 amThree cheers for Mary Robins or Robinson
When a nation disrespects its own people
posted by Mary Robinson on 17 Dec 2012 at 4:35 amWhen a nation loses the ability to respect the rights and dignity of its own people it has imploded. America needs to have a good look at itself. We have become a nation of manuals and procedures, with absolutely no regard for human beings.
Horrible ableist language!
posted by Maija Haavisto on 17 Dec 2012 at 3:48 am"Wheelchair bound" is oppressive, ableist language which no one should be using. People use wheelchairs, they aren't (in the overwhelming majority of cases) bound to them.
PuttPutt
posted by Ronald on 17 Dec 2012 at 3:24 amTime to clamp down on the TSA.They could not find a bad guy if he was in their hip pocket.
TSA and little girl with osteogenesis imperfecta
posted by Gwenie on 17 Dec 2012 at 3:14 amThe TSA is long over due for retirement. No, absolutely no other nation on earth subjects their citizens to such humiliation. My experience, having no breasts due to a double mastectomy, is so negative I refuse to fly anymore. The examiners prove over and over to have the sensitivity of a rock and IQs of slime.
What a waste of money
posted by Jim on 17 Dec 2012 at 3:08 amTSA staff have had many instances where people were unfairly abused due to their error. I think it's time to get rid of them and use the money for a better purpose. That is one department that is overpaid and is going to cause some lawsuits due to their stupidity.
Very insensitive
posted by Binu on 17 Dec 2012 at 2:45 amThis is just sad and literally adding insult to injury!! The least they could do was to apologize to the little girl !! Really sad she had to go through that.
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