dearJulius.com
HomeTravel

Child left 'heartbroken' after stuffed animal snake confiscated at Johannesburg airport

In a series of tweets, the boy's mother, Nicole Fritz, showed an image of the plush toy in question and recounted the incident at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport.

© Provided by USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc.
The Central Terminal building of the O.R Tambo international airport in Johannesburg after its inauguration by South African President Jacob Zuma on April 20, 2010.

By Sara M Moniuszko, USA TODAY

A five-year-old boy's stuffed animal snake was allegedly confiscated at the airport, leaving him "heartbroken," according to Fox News and South African newspaper The Times.

The plush snake, which was a recent birthday from his grandmother, was taken at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport Friday.

In a series of tweets, the boy's mother, Nicole Fritz, showed an image of the toy in question and explained what happened as they were going through security.

"This is the soft toy python taken from my son by @Airports_ZA . He is heartbroken," she wrote. "It was his fifth birthday present, given only last week, from his grandmother."

She continued, "The justification from @Airports_ZA is that it is a replica but as you can tell only a half-wit would mistake it for the real thing. It looks only like what it is – a child’s plush toy."

x1

She further explained to the Times that her son was wearing the plush toy around his neck as they were approaching security, which is where officials told them it would not be allowed on the flight.

"We were just so taken aback. We couldn’t believe it," she said. "It’s not a rubber snake. It’s a soft toy. People were kind of laughing around him. Nobody thought for an instant it was real. Nobody could think it was a lifelike representation."

The airport gave her the option of throwing the snake away or checking it, but she says there was no time.

"We had been waiting in the queue for a long time. We had very little time to make it to the gate," she said.

USA TODAY has reached out to the airport for comment.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Child left 'heartbroken' after stuffed animal snake confiscated at Johannesburg airport

Note: If you think this story need more information or correction, feel free to comment below your opinion and reaction.

COMMENTS

DISQUS
Name

Travel,1396,
ltr
item
Travel News: Child left 'heartbroken' after stuffed animal snake confiscated at Johannesburg airport
Child left 'heartbroken' after stuffed animal snake confiscated at Johannesburg airport
In a series of tweets, the boy's mother, Nicole Fritz, showed an image of the plush toy in question and recounted the incident at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQprVLY2DwynoTrGBnAT2q3ZvkgHZix99kXJsu2Wg4L6kBk7SDbHG2m64RXd-6OkXr_H8yPNQPC_CF-c0tWghXLLxZ4h90VaYCgMhkY2K99yHwGAwxiLtzNfX83QghPhnANiMCmPcCohl/s1600/DailyNewsView.com.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQprVLY2DwynoTrGBnAT2q3ZvkgHZix99kXJsu2Wg4L6kBk7SDbHG2m64RXd-6OkXr_H8yPNQPC_CF-c0tWghXLLxZ4h90VaYCgMhkY2K99yHwGAwxiLtzNfX83QghPhnANiMCmPcCohl/s72-c/DailyNewsView.com.jpg
Travel News
https://travel.dailynewsview.com/2018/11/child-left-heartbroken-after-stuffed.html
https://travel.dailynewsview.com/
https://travel.dailynewsview.com/
https://travel.dailynewsview.com/2018/11/child-left-heartbroken-after-stuffed.html
true
6737428913629963530
UTF-8
Loaded All Posts Not found any posts VIEW ALL Read More Reply Cancel reply Delete By Home PAGES POSTS View All RECOMMENDED FOR YOU LABEL ARCHIVE SEARCH ALL POSTS Not found any post match with your request Back Home Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat January February March April May June July August September October November December Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec just now 1 minute ago $$1$$ minutes ago 1 hour ago $$1$$ hours ago Yesterday $$1$$ days ago $$1$$ weeks ago more than 5 weeks ago Followers Follow THIS PREMIUM CONTENT IS LOCKED STEP 1: Share. STEP 2: Click the link you shared to unlock Copy All Code Select All Code All codes were copied to your clipboard Can not copy the codes / texts, please press [CTRL]+[C] (or CMD+C with Mac) to copy