From KTVI-TV St. Louis, MO (8/17, Hayes):
For years, the military denied that the practice of burning hazardous waste on bases could make our troops sick. We exposed the burning practice this spring. Then during our investigation, the V.A.began recognizing related illnesses. Now in August, a Vet in St. Charles is finally going to get a diagnosis.
It used to be common practice on military bases to burn waste. Troops reported that military contractors torched everything from rubber and plastic to nuclear waste. Veterans, like Tim Wymore, Said they inhaled the thick black smoke every hour of every day.
We can see the steady decline in Wymore’s health since our visit in March. Last Spring, he said doctors knew he had lesions on the brain, but they couldn’t give a reason or a solid treatment plan.
In our follow-up August visit, Wymore said, “Nobody wants to diagnose me. I don’t know why.”
Now he can barely move. He said, “Breathing is harder. Everyday I’m coughing up stuff you know, what I call call Iraqi gunk.”
He needs a wheelchair to get around and his wife Shana has to help him in and out of it. He added, “Lying here, I’m drained. This is where I am for the rest of the day. This is not the way I wanted to live.”
After our May report, Veterans Affairs finally recognized – officially – burn pit symptoms. The V.A. sent out a training letter to all government hospitals instructing doctors not to turn away patients. But it didn’t offer a quick solution for Wymore, who told us, “Everywhere we’ve gone to try to get help, we’ve had to fight you know we hit a brick wall and when we hit that brick wall we’ve got to fix what’s going on to get to the next brick wall.”
After months of pushing, he and his wife got approval to fly to New Jersey to the “War Related Illness and Injury Center.” The Wymores hope to finally have a diagnosis this week. That could be the beginning of Tim Wymore getting the treatment he needs to save his life.
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