A 30-year-old woman died in her husband’s arms after airport security caused her pacemaker to fail.
The tragic incident occurred in Ulan-Ude Airport in Russia, when Diane Tolstova collapsed after passing through the detector.
Tolstova had a pacemaker and it is thought the electromagnetic waves caused the device to malfunction.
According to the The Mirror, airport officials are now investigating the incident and bereaved husband Maxim has spoken out about his heartbreak following the loss of his wife.
“We were standing at the security gates and I had given them papers showing Diana was on a pacemaker. I don’t know what happened but she went through it anyway. 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.”
However, a spokesperson for the airport said that every heart patient receives a strict warning about the risk posed by the scanner.
“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. 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.”
