MEMPHIS, Tenn. --- Bloodied and bruised, Hannah Cohen was led from Memphis International Airport in handcuffs.
The 19-year old was headed home to Chattanooga after treatment for a brain tumor at St. Jude Hospital in June 2015. It's a trip her family has made for 17 years. This time, an unarmed Hannah set off the metal detector at a security checkpoint.
“They wanted to do further scanning. She was reluctant. She didn't understand what they were about to do," said her mother Shirley Cohen.
Cohen told us she tried to tell TSA agents her daughter is partially deaf, blind in one eye, paralyzed, and easily confused, but said she was kept at a distance by police.
“She's trying to get away from them but in the next instant, one of them had her down on the ground and hit her head on the floor. There was blood everywhere,” said Cohen.
Hannah was arrested and booked, and on the night she should have been celebrating the end of her treatment, she was locked up.
“Here we were with nowhere to go, not even a toothbrush, our bags had gone to Chattanooga,” said Cohen.
Authorities later threw out the charges, but the family recently filed a lawsuit against the Memphis Airport, Airport Police, and the Transportation Security Administration.
None of them would comment citing the suit, but Sari Koshetz of TSA released a statement that said, “Passengers can call ahead of time to learn more about the screening process for their particular needs or medical situation.”
Cohen said after all the help here, she can't believe it ended like this.
“She's 19 but she'll always be my baby. We've been through so much.”
