Now carries a doctor’s note

Traveling by myself in November ’13 on a tour arranged by a tour company, I was using Djibouti as a base of operations to fly to Puntland, Somalia, and to Mogadishu, Somalia, and back. The flights required that I pass through the Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport security, first while entering the terminal and then at the gate for departure. On the return flight, I had to pass through security again in the Customs area.

Djibouti’s terminal did not have that many security officers, so I saw the same officers many times over the days I was operating out of Djibouti.

Each time I passed a checkpoint, my artificial knee would set off an alarm. Since I was wearing shorts, I would point to the scar on my knee, and the agent would give me a quick check with a wand. When other passengers set off the alarm, they had to remove their shoes and go through the scanner again.

On the night of my last flight out, heading for Ethiopia, it was my sixth time passing through the Djibouti airport security checks and I confronted an officer who had already cleared me three times that same day.

The officer stopped me at the gate and asked for a letter from my doctor confirming I had had a knee replacement. I replied that I didn’t have one and that no one had ever asked for a letter in the many countries I had traveled through.

He didn’t take my answer well and proceeded to dump the contents of my carry-on on the table, though he eventually let me pass through security. 

After returning home, I had a doctor confirm in writing that I have an artificial knee. I laminated the statement and now carry it with my immunization records, just in case I’m asked again. 

I wonder if other readers carry letters certifying they have artificial limbs or metal in their bodies.

ED REYNOLDS

Woodland Hills, CA