AN IRISH teenager who suffers from Tourette’s syndrome has spoken about struggling to travel through airports – where he sometimes shouts “I’m a terrorist” and “ISIS”.
Lewis Nickell, 18, from Co. Antrim was diagnosed with the rare disorder – which manifests itself in involuntary outbursts – just over two years ago.
These spontaneous impulses are called ‘tics’ and can be either physical or verbal – being the latter in Nickell’s case.
Belfast native Nickell is wary of airports due to the stress of shouting out and seeing as there is currently no cure, his only hope is to attempt to repress the symptoms.
He features on Channel 4’s new documentary Flights From hell: Caught on Camera where he shouts “bomb” and says he is an Islamic State fighter with a “f**ing AK-47 in my back pocket.”
In the documentary he is also seen telling an air stewardess that he wants to have her babies and that she has a “nice a**”.
Nickell hopes the documentary will raise awareness of how difficult it is for Tourette’s sufferers to use public spaces such as airports.
“The airport staff are usually pretty understanding at security, it’s more the general public that I get a stronger reaction from, because there’s lots more of them and it can take them a while to realise,” he told MailOnline.
“But nothing surprises me anymore!”
The furthest Nickell has travelled to date is Spain but he hopes one day to make it as far as America or Australia in spite of his condition.
He says it remains to be seen whether security staff in the US will be as understanding as those in Ireland.
“You have to have a sense of humour. I lived for 15 years without Tourette's and I had a pretty good sense of humour before that so I’m sure as hell not going to let that change now,” he said.
“The more nervous you get, the more the tics and the swearing get worse so I try not to get too stressed.”
He added: “There are obviously loads of things you shouldn't say at an airport so it can be difficult but I don’t find it too hard now - I've travelled lots of times.”
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