Boy Becomes Ill After Airport Security Check
Teen Said Security Told Him To Drink From Bottle Of Stream Water
POSTED: 8:54 a.m. MST April 5, 2002
A 14-year-old Pennsylvania boy believes he become ill after security personnel at the Aspen, Colo., airport made him drink stream water from a one-gallon bottle he had in his backpack.
The boy said he was carrying the Rocky Mountain stream water back to Pennsylvania to get extra credit in his biology class.
As part of new security measures at all airports, passengers must take a drink of any beverages they are taking aboard aircraft.
Elliot Gosko believes he contracted giardia after drinking from the bottle filled with stream water collected during his Aspen visit. Gosko said he became ill on the Easter Sunday flight from Aspen after drinking the water. He missed two days of school before seeing a doctor.
Health officials said that stream water, particularly in the springtime, is known to cause giardia or salmonella because of an increase of parasites in the water.
He said he didn't question the airport screener's instructions because "I was just following orders," he told the Aspen Daily News. He said he was traveling alone on the Northwest Airlines flight.
"My son, the bioterrorist," said George Gosko Jr., Elliot's father. But he still thinks security took it a little too far with his son.
"They didn't ask him what it was or why he was carrying it," he told the News. "We're out here on the East Coast and we're close to what happened in New York City and I'm all for security. But I'm not for stupidity."
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