A 75-year-old cancer survivor from Belfast has described an airport security check as “intimidating” after being asked to touch her own stoma bag in a private room at Manchester Airport.
Colette McAreavey, who has lived with bladder cancer for eight years, was returning from visiting her daughter and grandchildren in Manchester when the incident occurred. After passing through an X-ray machine, she informed a female security officer about her stoma bag during a pat-down. The officer then instructed her to follow her to a private area.
In the private room, two security personnel insisted on a further search. Ms McAreavey said: “I said I’ve already gone through the x-ray machine, and I was quite happy to be patted down, but this I find highly objectionable and intimidating.” Despite her objections, she was told to lower her trousers and manually rub her stoma bag while her hand was scanned.
Ms McAreavey, who has had the stoma for over a year, said there was “no empathy” in the way she was treated, describing the experience as “awful”. She has urged Manchester Airport to rethink its approach to avoid similar ordeals for others.
A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: “The safety of our passengers and staff is of paramount importance and our security processes must be applied consistently. We’ve looked into the incident in question and are satisfied the process was carried out in line with statutory security regulations, in a private area, with a chaperone.” They added that security colleagues receive training to conduct searches privately and compassionately, and expressed regret that the passenger found the experience distressing.
