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Cancer Patient Says TSA Made Her Lift Up Shirt, Pull Back Bandages Before ‘End of Life’ Trip

Oct. 9, 2012 6:28pm Erica Ritz

TSA Tells Cancer Patient Michelle Dunaj to Pull Back Bandages, Lift Up Shirt at Seattle Airport

(Photo: KOMO-TV)

(TheBlaze/AP) — A leukemia patient making what she called an “end-of-life” trip to Hawaii says she was embarrassed by security agents at the Seattle airport who refused her request for a private room after telling her to lift up her shirt and pull back her bandages.

Though Michelle Dunaj says she thought she arrived prepared– having called the airline ahead of time to request a wheelchair and ask how to send her medication through security– the agents seemingly had no idea how to deal with her condition.

“I did everything they asked me to do, so I didn’t think it was going to be an issue,” she said while describing the event.

(Photo: KOMO-TV)

First, she said, the machines couldn’t get a reading on the saline bags she has to carry, so a TSA agent actually forced one of them open, contaminating the fluid she needs to survive.

Then, they instructed her to lift up her shirt and pull back the bandages to the feeding tubes into her stomach, inserted because of organ failure. When she requested a private room, she claims they said no, telling her the public location they were using was “fine.”

TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis tells KOMO-TV it’s against policy to deny a private screening for passengers who request it, and that the agency is investigating the matter.

Dunaj held back tears as she explained: “When somebody wants to take a trip– especially what I call and ‘end of life trip’ because you want to see your family and friends, then it becomes…it’s even more important than just taking a trip.”

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Comments (81)

OldGringo
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:41pm
Eliminate TSA on Day 1… EPA on Day 2 and just keep going til the mess is cleaned up

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- Cemoto78
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 10:47pm
  These TSA boneheads are becoming more and more empowered believing they can do whatever they deem fit. Kinda reminds me of the progressives who want to make up the rules as they go along, making every attempt to demean a person and make you feel enslaved to them. These TSA clowns need to be held accountable for their actions personally. Take them to court and make them pay out of their own pockets.
  
  Report this comment
- duckwalker
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 11:11pm
  They remind me of the Brown Shirt Nazis before WWII. These a note really bad people for the mos part, just ignorant sheeple that do as their masters say. There ignorance is part of their danger.
  
  Report this comment
- maddog777
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 11:14pm
  Old gringo couldn’t have said it better. I’ve been thinking that same thing forever with as a individual being in law enforcement would also get rid of the A T F
  
  Report this comment
- MadeintheUSA2
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:12am
  This story and others like it make me SICK and makes me so mad that we, as a “so-called” free nation, put up with this nonsense! When someone asks–what freedoms have you lost—this is a perfect example! F/U TSA idiotic thugs!
  
  Report this comment
- zipzap
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:53am
  TSA, EPA, Homeland Insecurity, ICE, and so many, many others –all are run by the same dolts who place their totalitarian agendas in front of human life, human dignity, and liberty, and American prosperity. You could ask a child what is the right way to treat people and they will get it right 9 times out of ten. These monstrous agencies get it wrong 9 out of 10 times that they are put to the test. It usually takes a lawyer and tens of thousands of dollars to hold these government abusers to account.
  
  Report this comment
- PATTY HENRY
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 3:47am
  THIS IS WAY more than stupid…this is MEAN SPIRITED and DETERMINED EFFORT to reduce the FREEDOM/WILL of AMERICANS…to break our spirits. THESE PEOPLE are criminal. Trained by that evil, angry lesbian Janet Napolitano. THERE IS NO REASON for TSA. WE have the best AIRPORT/AIRLINE SECURITY on earth available to us in the form of ISRAELI SECURITY.
  DOPES have said ” but they don’t have as many flights as we do ” (a liberal dope said that) the response is: DOPE, The technique is the same, big or small number of flights. I agree, First OBAMA CARE, THEN EPA, then Military Tribunals for the TERRORIST at Ft. Hood and the rest, then these bas-turds in TSA… then make all those teaching our kids sign a declaration of loyalty to uphold our CONSTITUTION… but first we have to get this election done. 28 days. GOD BLESS US!! KEEP PRAYING. KEEP WORKING HARD. Don’t forget to see if your local candidates can use your help! SEND $ 5 or $ 15 or $25 to MITT if you can. PRAY FOR THEM!
  
  Report this comment
OldGringo
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:36pm
Eliminate TSA on Day 1…EPA on Day 2…and keep going

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- damon_k
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 8:33pm
  It must be because of all the white cancer patients that have engaged in acts of terrorism, oh wait it was Muslim males between the ages of 18 and 35. When is our leadership going to wise up and start profiling and leave the cancer patients alone. Read more insights at: http://smallcraftadvisorychronicles.blogspot.com/
  
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- Taquoshi
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 10:22pm
  NEA (National Endowments for the Arts) on Day 3, Department of Energy on Day 4….
  
  Report this comment
- Elena2010
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:38am
  Dept of Education day 5
  
  Report this comment
NoVampires
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:33pm
The TSA, the czars, the patriot act all intended to subvert the constitution. Expect things to get worse if Romney loses.

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S.Sailor
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:32pm
Barry’s “Hope and Change”….

Had enough yet ?

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getourcountryback
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:22pm
Romney should put getting rid of the TSA a holes on that list for his first day in office. Take the rag heads aside and have one of those burqua clad babes pull up HER shirt and show her bombs. This is so beyond acceptable.

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- myrwo6
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:48pm
  There’s always a few bad apples in every group. I garantee there is a lot more good TSA employees than bad ones. The bad ones make me angry also but, be careful what you wish for.. I have flown a lot of times and have never had a problem.
  
  Report this comment
- andyingle08
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 9:59pm
  Ok, if you think the TSA consists of more good people than bad, then you are part of the sheep herd! You believe that these idiots have a right to say freeze and if you don’t, you should be harassed, the TSA is the biggest host of fear mongering people ever created. This group should be arrested for the violations of our civil rights every day!!!!!! These people are uneducated morons that should not have jobs on our tax dollars. This system is a complete disaster and should be removed immediately. LET’S RETIRE THE BLUE SHIRTS WITH BADGES!!!
  
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- Individualism
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 10:26pm
  he likes them grabbing inside his magic underwear. haha but not seriously he is all for tyranny just like Obama because hes basically the same as Obama besides a more war mongerish foreign policy.
  
  Report this comment
- The_Pointy_End
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 11:59pm
  “we are looking into it” is code speak for $uck off!! not going to do damn thing about it. The union prevents anything from being done about it. That is why TSA agents and police are out of control, they know nothing will/can be done about their behavior.
  
  Report this comment
oxycontinxx
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:21pm
i dont fly………..because they want to grope me at the gate and they wont provide me with an m16 to protect myself during a flight……………….

but if i did fly and got some sh it from a tsa agent………………i d strip naked as a jaybird and let them check me out………….warts, hemorrhoids, fat and all.

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- loriann12
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:57pm
  That’s also why I will never fly as long as there is a TSA. I am a cancer patient, having had a mastectomy and wear a prosthetic breast. I have very little **** right now and wear a scarf most days. I have a power port tht I will probably keep until I die, so it would look “suspicious” on the full body scanner if I were stupid enough to allow them to radiate my body even more. I can see them requesting to cut out my port to see what it was.
  
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progressiveslayer
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:14pm
TSA degrades this woman in public they sexually assault travelers daily and we put up with it.The patriot act TSA DHS and God knows how many more agencies we have that are unconstitutional and violate our rights need to be abolished. I’ve heard it before how can we be safe while flying if not for these searches? TSA strip searches this woman in public and they’re not arrested? Even if they strip searched her in a private room they’re still violating her fourth amendment right.

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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:26pm
  Think about this a moment. The Nazis didn’t even do this to their people.
  
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- progressiveslayer
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:57pm
  I know,it shows how far we’ve fallen and it’s a damn shame.
  
  Report this comment
- Dr Vel
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 8:51pm
  I have read about hundreds of incidents like this and in each one they say “the agency is investigating the matter”. Yet nothing changes for the better. EVER! More and more stories of theft and thuggery by TSA workers appear every day. If they were investigating the matter these stories should decrease. The fact that they are in reality getting worse and ever more prevalent can only indicate one thing. This is what the TSA approves of and what they wish to do as often as they possibly can. Their real goal is to train the public that this is the way things should be. Only worse day by day. Do not fly. When the airlines are failing for lack of business we can only hope something gets done about it.
  
  Report this comment
- Dr Vel
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 9:12pm
  “First, she said, the machines couldn’t get a reading on the saline bags she has to carry, so a TSA agent actually forced one of them open, contaminating the fluid she needs to survive.”
  
  I should add: is this not a deadly assault upon this poor sick dying woman? She is a law abiding citizen, a decent human being deserving of respect and compassion. She only wanted to go see something beautiful one last time before she died. Her last memories of this trip can only be negative and nothing can ever be done to erase this. Is she someones little girl, wife, sister, mother? I do not want to hear another comment along the lines of “I have sympathy for the TSA worker they are only doing a job”. A job? Is this the kind of people being hired for this job? Sick, demonic, twisted souls taking pleasure in their power and new found authority over citizens of this nation? Do you at your job treat people like this? If so I can only say God is watching every move you make, every thought you think, hearing every word you speak. The day will come you will stand before Him and answer for the way you have treated His children.
  
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merik59
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:07pm
I would rather see racial profiling than this nonsense. I feel for any air traveler who has had to put up with these people. TSA personnel are not human anymore. They’ve lost it because they would no more want to be treated this way than anybody else. Talk about hiring the dregs.

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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:23pm
  MERIK59, Its not racial profiling. It is a brief period of asking what at first seem to be mundane questions, while observing for particular actions and reactions. The questioning process increases if necessary. Have been through it many times well before 9-11 while traveling to and from Europe.
  
  Report this comment
- merik59
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:34pm
  Actually, stopping anyone who happens to look Arabic is a type of racial profiling & they should investigate these people. I understand these are not desirable techniques but the terrorists rather did this to themselves. It is the extremists in the Middle East who proclaim the biggest threat to us & racial profiling is just one way to identify these entities. Everyone traveling outside their country needs their passport checked. The rules are in place for reasons but harassing countrymen just because of some megalomania is not one of them. I can believe they would use just about anything they could to get into our country & wreak havoc. So the first identifiers would be typical racial characteristics & that means the darker skin, the brown tone eyes, the typical nose structure, darker **** tone, etc. Arabians tend towards a distinctive look just as Norwegians, Africans, South Americans, etc. Even plastic surgery cannot alter them completely. There are people who study these things & it is part of any other type of formal profiling. There is nothing wrong with understanding your enemy because identifying them when they are hell bent on destroying you is tougher.
  
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- loriann12
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 7:13am
  If middle aged white women who are cancer patients were the ones blowing up planes, I wouldn’t mind going through this. But I have yet to hear of a single incidence of that scenario. I’m not a Middle Eastern Man in my 20′s to 30′s and neither is she. Mike Gallagher (when his wife was still alive) told a story of her being forced to remove her hat (or wig, can’t remember) as a cancer patient. I wouldn’t mind, but some women are extremely self conscious without their ****.
  
  Report this comment
blackyb
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:04pm
The Marxists do not want people traveling, communicating, gathering, or otherwise so they cannot band together and do something about this menace in America.

A person can get certification from a doctor, or used to could, and get in another line for those with medical problems and waived on through. Now-a-days it seems it is worse there.

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myway
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:02pm
Breaks my heart. Why did they do that to this woman? My prayers are with her. Semper Fi

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- Wayner
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:14pm
  Give an SOB a little government authority and he/she’s automatically Barney Fife.. Works the same in local police departments, state police, IRS…
  
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diverdan
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:59pm
We could view this as government at its worst OR perhaps we should consider something worse: An effort to make travel so repulsive, that no one will travel unless absolutely necessary OR a step on the way to complete control of our movement.

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- undrprsr
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:04pm
  OR all three!
  
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- blackyb
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:06pm
  It is to slowly control movement. It is a step. They take it in steps. People have not seen this coming for a long time. In the past 3 years or so it is really obvious. They got Obama in there and he is stepping it up. Where is Congress?
  
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Lachoneous
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:55pm
We know what the enemy looks like: Dark skin tone, Muslim garb, middle eastern accent, etc. We have never been attacked, let alone threatened, by little children, old ladies, breastfeeding mothers, fat businessmen who can’t see their feet, let alone change their shoes while standing in line, etc.

We don’t need any agency that is trained to be stupid, and see its own citizens as the enemy. Radical Islam is the enemy, and until we elect leaders who will recognize this, they will continue to target the innocent.

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- zipzap
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:57am
  I beg to differ. We could easily characterize Barney Frank as a fat man who can’t see his feet. Look at the destruction he, Dodd, and Bill Clinton did to the housing market and the personal lives of millions of Americans. Frank and Sandusky should be cell mates.
  
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louise
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:55pm
Americans can thank the Patriot Act for this

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- merik59
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:10pm
  The epitome of irony because The Patriot Act was NOT legislated by people I would consider patriots. Go figure. The terrorists have already won, they got their way, we live in fear, we legislate in fear & the powers that be are too stupid to get that.
  
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republic2011
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:52pm
End the entitlements, end the unions, and you won’t need the TSA. You won’t even need half the people we employ in the DHS. Immigration would be easier and capitalism could actually make more people wealthy and provide a higher standard of living. Politicians created the problem with entitlements and unions and then they needed to address the problem with more control. This poor lady should never have had to endure this. No American should.

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Jenasus
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:51pm
TSA Terrorists Stripping Americans
Intimidation, Domination and Control is what TSA is using to abuse Americans.
Do not comply with TSA. TSA is the enemy.

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CulperGang
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:48pm
Well, the HILL won’t end it. The people you pay for to keep you safe WON’T……. SO STOP FLYING.
Everybody is too SELFISH to band together and stop what they are doing and REFUSE TO USE THE AIRLINES. Go another way. OR if you can’t then don’t. STAND UP FOR YOUR PRINCIPLES. DEMAND TO BE TREATED WITH DIGNITY……and most of all DEMAND YOUR FOURTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS. You all haven’t so STFU and stop whinning. Keep flying and be humiliated, and destroyed as a human. AND YOU PAY FOR IT YOU FOOL. I desperately need to go to Europe….I WON’Tuntil this lunacy ends and I get my freedom back.

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- Magyar
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:02pm
  We’re with you. Since the Nazis have invaded our air space, we have not set foot on board—nor will we until they receive orders to stop abusing Americans.
  
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- palerider54
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:07pm
  I am with you Culpergang, I have not and will not fly since they started the pat downs.
  
  If I can’t drive it, I don’t go. F them.
  
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- Diane TX
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:16pm
  CulperGang
  
  The last time I flew was for my mom’s funeral over two years ago. My son has to fly because he works all over the World, and if he didn’t, he would have zero income.
  
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- WiredRight
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:36pm
  You are exactly right… I will not comply and I will not fly again until the TSA is no more.
  
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Taurnil
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:46pm
The TSA is out of control and its always been that way. They are nothing less than thugs with no regard for trampling the Constitution.

In short they are nothing but communists in disguise and consider themselves immune to dignity, moral concerns and depraved.

They are disgusting people from the inspectors at the air ports all the way to the top.

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Larry E
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:45pm
Ve haf our rulez, und yu vill submit tu all uf zem! There are some good people working for TSA, my wife actually dealt with one of them two years ago before institutionalized sexual harassment was introduced by Incompetano and Pistole. Other than that one female TSA employee, mostly worthless duds who want to feel powerful and act like they’re special and we’re not.

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denkat56
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:44pm
who is watching tsa, do they answer to anyone or are they likeobama gods.

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nocalifornia
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:41pm
It is time to end the TSA gestapo regime, and fire that homeland lack of security **** while were at it!

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The Rog
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:40pm
“….the agents seemingly had no idea…” That about covers it. You can walk into this country from Mexico and get a cell phone and a driver’s license but you can’t leave without being humiliated by a rent-a-cop wannabe Nazi.

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thevikinghelmetwithhorns
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:38pm
ef the tsa…..

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KickinBack
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:37pm
I sure hope Romney disbands the TSA…And then let the market compete for it’s privatization. If Obama gets back in, then TSA will unionize and we’ll never get rid of them.

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ProudCapitalist
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:37pm
It is time to end the TSA and HHS and fire the union thugs.

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Angel_light
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:33pm
the TSA needs to go. all you ever get are problems with them.

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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 7:29pm
  Indeed – its past time for them to go.
  
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