A grandmother feared for her life during an eight-hour flight home after security staff at Heathrow Airport seized her medication. Judy Freud was travelling with her husband Chaim to New York from Tel Aviv via Heathrow when her life-saving medication was confiscated.
Their ordeal began after staff at the airport confiscated a bottle of Benadryl that Judy had placed, along with her Epipens, in a clear bag as she went through security. She carries the medication on her at all times due to having a series of severe nut allergies.
Judy told the Mirror: "I put the liquids in the clear bag and they pulled our bag out to search it completely. They said to us that the liquid is the problem, and I told them its my medication for my severe nut allergy, but they were not happy as I didn't have a letter linking the Benadryl to my EpiPens, so they said we can't let this through.
"I explained that I take the Benadryl and if that doesn't work I use the EpiPen, if that doesn't work they're going to have to land the plane."
Thinking on her feet, the 52-year-old swiftly got in touch with her doctor in Tel Aviv who sent over her medical records for the security staff to see. Due to the records being in Hebrew, however, the staff were unable to read it and were not satisfied with having Judy and Chaim translate for them.
The liquid medication was found to be harmless following tests but the staff would not give it back to Judy because it exceeded the 100ml limit. Instead, they advised Judy to purchase a new bottle from Boots store within the airport.
"I was terrified, I have flown many, many times and this is the first time this has happened to me," Judy said. "I told them I was very uncomfortable travelling without my medication and my husband begged them to help us."
Judy and Chaim went to Boots but as they feared the pharmacist confirmed the UK version of the Benadryl has a different formulation to their US one. Judy said Chaim was so worried about his wife, he questioned whether they should take the connecting flight home, but Julie chose to not eat anything during the journey to reduce her risk of ingesting allergens.
She added: "I'm 52, I've travelled many times and I know what it is like to live with a food allergy. I was scared to get on the plane and my husband was terrified too. Thank God nothing happened."
She said she had spoken out as Heathrow needs to understand what it did wrong as this was a serious and upsetting incident. She added that she was fearful for her return flight back through the terminal at the end of the month.
She also shared her concerns with No Nut Traveler, a non-profit organisation working to improve the safety and quality of life both in the air and on the ground for individuals with food allergies.
No Nut Traveler founder Lianne Mandelbaum told the Mirror: "I have received reports over the years of passengers with food allergies facing similar situations. My recommendations to allergic travellers has always included bringing a letter from a physician and a signed emergency action plan for treatment of an allergic reaction.
"The letter should confirm the food allergy and the need to carry medications including liquids and epinephrine auto-injectors. It is critical to not put medications in packed luggage in the event they are needed to treat an in-flight reaction. This is what makes security confiscating medication so concerning."
She added: "That being said, security staff with no medical backgrounds making important decisions on what medications are allowed is a very slippery slope. The passenger did have medical documents that stated the need for an auto-injector so it makes no sense to me that the Benadryl was confiscated.
"It is not ok to put the burden on the allergic passenger in a different country to replace necessary medication in the airport. She also revealed that she was treated in a humiliating manner by staff and this is a scenario I see all too often with food allergies. Clearly education of all airport staff is needed."
A Heathrow spokesman told the Mirror: “We regret the anxiety this passenger experienced during their journey through the airport. Unfortunately over the counter medications over 100ml cannot pass through security control points, in line with government guidelines for keeping passengers safe in the air.
"Our teams do not have the discretion to overrule these guidelines and we encourage passengers to check our website in advance of travelling and speak to our contact centre or a colleague in the terminals if they have any questions.”
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