Dying woman complains of abusive TSA search

A dying woman is the latest to complain about a humiliating security pat down at Sea-Tac Airport, saying screeners ignored her request for a private search.

Michelle Dunaj, who is dying from leukemia, says agents made her lift up her shirt and pull back the bandages holding feeding tubes in place. She tells KOMO News when she asked for privacy as other passengers stared at her, screeners turned her down.

“They just said it was fine; the location we were at was fine,” she says.

Seattle Morning News host Linda Thomas says Dunaj’s request for privacy should have been respected.

“I’m all for TSA (checking) people out, but come on, you don’t need to do that in front of a crowd with a bunch of people watching.”

Dunaj tells KOMO she called Alaska Airlines before what would be one of the last trips of her life to arrange for a wheelchair and ask how her vast amount of medicines should be handled at security. But she says everything went wrong, including one of her vital fluids being contaminated when an agent forced a saline bag open.

“I did everything they asked me to do, so I didn’t think it would be an issue,” she says.

“I’m just trying to imagine what possible excuse TSA could have for this,” says co-host Tom Tangney.

But Tangney says he is somewhat sympathetic to the challenges TSA agents face and understands their need to check everyone out.

Dunaj tells KOMO she doesn’t want others to have to endure what she went through.

“When somebody wants to take a trip, especially what I call an ‘end-of-life trip’ because you want to see your family and friends, then it becomes more important than just taking a trip,” she said.

TSA spokesperson Ann Davis tells KOMO the agency is looking into the complaint and Davis should have been given her privacy when she asked for it.