Passing through airport security is a mild inconvenience, if anything, for most passengers — but for Gillian Horton it can cause intense anxiety.
But for some, like Gillian Horton, the experience can cause intense anxiety.She had a single mastectomy and now wears a silicone breast prostheses — or breast form — which fits into a specially designed bra with a pocket.She recalls going to the airport to fly overseas for the first time after her cancer treatment and being faced with two security options."As you go through security, you get directed one way or the other, and I was hoping I would go through the metal detector.
Ms Horton was asked to be part of the training by showing staff what different breast forms look like, describing how cancer patients feel when faced with scanners, and outlining what language they could use with customers who have similar concerns. She says involving Ms Horton was crucial because "there's nothing like that personal story and that lived experience to bring different perspectives to the conversation that the staff might not have thought about otherwise".