Woman dies after airport scanner interferes with her pacemaker

A woman fitted with a pacemaker has died after passing through an airport scanner in the southern Russian town of Ulan-Ude.

Diana Tolstova, 30, died in the airport minutes after passing through the scanner. Her husband Maxim, 33, said that they had provided papers proving that Mrs Tolstova was fitted with the heart device – which is adversely affected by airport scanners.

"I don’t know what happened but she went through it anyway," he told Central European News agency.

"When we got to the departure gate she began to feel dizzy and suddenly collapsed.

"I grabbed her in my arms and called for medical help.

"It took a few minutes before hospital doctors arrived, and when they did they didn’t know what to do. They didn’t give her any first aid and they didn’t call an ambulance.

"My beautiful Diana died in my arms."

Airport officials said that they are investigating the case.

"Security and airport personnel are given strict instructions about how to handle people with pacemakers, and we warn them never to let a wearer go through a metal detector," an airport spokesman said.

"In normal circumstances, they see their papers and let them pass. In this case, the patient seems to either have forgotten about it, didn’t know or became confused by the airport security arrangements.

"But every patient receives a strict warning."

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