Senior citizen searched, questioned over breast prosthetic

As many Nova Scotians are planning their winter getaway, one British Columbia senior is thinking she may never fly again after a humiliating encounter with airport security.

Elizabeth Strecker, 82, was flying home to Abbotsford Jan. 4 after a visit with family when a pin in her leg set off the metal detector at Calgary International Airport.

She was directed to the full-body scanner where the attendant asked if she was carrying any liquids or gels. Strecker said "no."

"I heard someone say 'whatever she said isn't true. Then she started to touch me everywhere,'" she told CTV News in Vancouver. The cancer survivor hadn't mentioned she was wearing a gel breast prosthetic, instead of an implant. "I didn't think I had to tell the whole world I had a mastectomy."

Strecker was subjected to a full-body pat down by security. She was ordered to raise her arm, which has been a painful action since her surgery five years ago.

"I was very upset they would make an 82-year-old lady cry like a baby, and then being called a liar," she said. "It was terribly humiliating and embarrassing for me. I came home, looked in the mirror and thought 'do I really look like a terrorists?'"

Chuck Strahl, BC's Minister of Transportation, told CTV News the situation is unacceptable and he is urging Strecker to file a complaint.

A Canadian Air Transport Security Authority spokesperson says an investigation has been launched.