Patient with a heart device suspected of being suicide bomber

An Asian heart patient was questioned by police who suspected he was a suicide bomber because of his life-saving battery backpack.

The 28-year-old man from Scotland was also challenged by a train passenger who saw the battery, and was harassed at a shopping centre by somebody who asked where he was from and whether he was carrying a bomb.

It is thought to be the first report in the UK of a patient with a ventricular assist device – or heart pump implant – being stopped and questioned as a possible security threat.

Details of the unnamed patient emerged in a case reported by doctors from the Scottish National Advanced Heart Failure Service, based at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire.

The unnamed man, who is of Pakistani nationality and ethnicity, was harassed by members of the public in a shopping centre and on a train, and was questioned by police for 20 minutes about the device after he was stopped because of a fault with his car rear light.

The report authors say the incidents had a “notable” impact on the patient’s wellbeing and have called for awareness of the device to be raised to help prevent similar incidents happening in the future.

The patient was fitted with a device known as an implantable left ventricular assist device (LVAD) after being diagnosed with heart failure. It is implanted into the chest to help keep the blood pumping through the heart and powered by batteries which are usually kept in a holster and attached by a lead through the abdomen.

The report noted: “As he was doing so, an individual approached him in an aggressive manner. The individual asked the patient directly, Where are you from?’ and directly, Is that a suicide bomb?’ The patient attempted to explain what he was doing and the purpose of the device.

“Whilst this appeared to appease the stranger, the patient was emotionally shaken by the event and left the mall prematurely to return home.”

Another incident occurred on a busy train, when the patient had to stand and hold on to a bar above his head, which revealed his battery pack.

He was then harassed by a group of teenagers loudly accusing him of being a suicide bomber – resulting in “everybody looking” at him.

On the third occasion, he was stopped by police while driving, who alerted him to a faulty rear light in his car. One of the police officers then noticed his battery pack. “The patient described an ordeal of questioning by two officers.”