Monday, April 29, 2013

Man with Tourette's Syndrome not allowed on flight after ticking ‘bomb’

A  Tourette's Syndrome sufferer was refused boarding on to a flight in Washington because he kept repeating the word 'bomb'. Michael Doyle tried to get on the Jet Blue flight at Reagan National Airport to San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Doyle got through the passenger screening without being stopped even though he had begun "ticking" - the involuntary repetition of words or phrases that is a common feature of Tourettes. "With all the stuff in the news about the Boston bombings and stuff... I started ticking 'bomb,'' Doyle said.


YouTube link. Original news video.

"Because when I get nervous and anything on my mind will come out. And things you're not supposed to say." Just before boarding a Jet Blue employee stepped forward and told Doyle who could not get on the plane. "I mean they stood me up in front of everyone and told me I'm like in kindergarten that I'm not allowed to go on the plane," he said.

Doyle's public humiliation happened even though he had contacted Jet Blue and the Transport Security Administration in advance about his condition, aware that it might create problems. Doyle had been traveling to Puerto Rico with his friend Chaz Petteway to take part in a Revolutionary War reenactment. Petteway stayed behind with his friend when he was refused permission to board. "To me it looks like it was kind of discrimination, you know," Petteway said.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's horrid. I once saw a woman, another Tourette sufferer, working a grocery cart in a market, and her vain attempts to control the involuntary barking and twitching were painful to watch.

As an aside, why would you have a Revolutionary War re-enactment in Puerto Rico?

Lurker111

Anonymous said...

Apparently the British attacked San Juan.

http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/battle-1797-reenactment/

Anonymous said...

It is part of the American character and habit to attack others who are different. As soon as the northeastern industrial states of the USA were in a position to do so technically they set about attacking and occupying every different culture within reach, and the process has only gained speed over time. They attacked and destroyed the South, then turned on the tribes of the American West, took over a major portion of Mexico, then faked an attack on the Maine and went after every remaining colony of Spain. Attacking others who are weaker or different is what Americans do. Now they are trying to convince the word that the Muslims, very few of whom drink alcohol at all, are more violent with women, which is absurd.

Anonymous said...

"Apparently the British attacked San Juan."

Wow. The stuff you DIDN'T learn in history class!

(Of course, this last attack was long after the Revolutionary War, but still fascinating.)

Lurker111

xoxoxoBruce said...

Anon 9:44… US history is far from stellar, so if you want to be critical there’s really no reason to make up stupid claims as you go.