Disabled teen cancer patient slammed to ground by TSA, lawsuit claims

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., July 3 (UPI) -- A disabled teenage cancer patient was injured by TSA agents in a violent arrest at Memphis International Airport, a new lawsuit alleges.

Hannah Cohen, then 18, partially blind, deaf and paralyzed by a brain tumor, was allegedly thrown to the ground, hitting her head, then arrested by the TSA and airport police after setting off the metal detector in the airport last year, the lawsuit

Hannah and her mother, Shirley, were returning home to Chattanooga after treatment for the tumor at St. Jude's Children's Hosptial on June 30, 2015, when Hannah set of the metal detector.

"They wanted to do further scanning, she was reluctant, she didn't understand what they were about to do," said Shirley, who tried to explain to TSA agents about her daughter but was kept away. She said her daughter started to panic.

"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 Shirley, who was herself hobbled by a broken foot at the time.

Hannah was arrested and jailed in Jail East. The charges were later thrown out, but the family has filed the lawsuit against the Memphis Airport, airport police, and the Transportation Security Administration.