Family receives airport apology after daughter told her medication would make plane crash

A family who were stopped at airport security for simply carrying essential type 1 diabetes medication have spoken of their frustration over the incident.
Officials from Manchester Airport have apologised after 13-year-old Polly Holland from Sheffield was told her insulin could “make the plane crash” and it would be “her fault”.
The family were travelling to Naples in July and had all Polly’s medication in their hand luggage, accompanied with a letter confirming the need for it from the teenager’s medical team at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
Despite this, the airport’s security team insisted all the medication be opened and decanted into individual plastic bags, treating the items like non-medical liquids. They were then called back by security for further screening, which is when the offensive comments were made to Polly.
Polly’s mum Joanne said the ordeal had upset the whole family and had ruined their experience of travelling on holiday.
Speaking to The Star newspaper, she said: “As a parent your children are always your priority but with Polly it is even more because I am carrying medicine that will keep her alive.
“For me it was frustrating, but she was worried she would not be able to go on holiday. I just held her hand and said everything was going to be ok. She looked close to tears.”
After complaining about the incident, the family have now received an apology from Manchester Airport, although Joanne said they will now be “looking at alternative airports” to travel from in the future.
Fiona Wright, director of customer services and security for Manchester Airport, said: “We’d like to apologise to the Hollands for their experience when travelling through the airport recently.
“We acknowledge the situation could have been handled better and this has now been raised with the staff member in question.”
Earlier this year, a campaign helped to ensure
insulin pump users no longer have to remove their device and go through an x-ray scanner at airports.