An Aledo, Illinois mom is pushing for more awareness, detection, and
treatment for soldiers exposed to toxic burn pits used in Iraq; pits
that she believes poisoned her soldier son and caused his deadly cancer.
"It's sad, it's just so sad and there's more and more of them passing
away becoming ill. Every single day," said Joan Wells; she lost her son
Sgt. Jeff Wells in August of 2015.
"He had a lump come up on his arm right here in July of last year. He
went to the VA hospital in August 2014, and they had no clue what it
was," she said.
Jean says Sgt. Wells was bounced around by the Veterans
Administration in Chicago from inexperienced residents, from doctor to
doctor, and he was not diagnosed until nine months after his first
visit.
"They didn't do a thing, and did not start treatments in May. It was
spindle cell sarcoma, a very rare cancer. By the time they started chemo
treatments, it was also on his liver, in his lungs, his pancreas," she
said.
Wells believes burn pits in Iraq poisoned her son with their toxic
smoke and fumes. His barracks were near one of 230 burn pits used in
Iraq and Afghanistan to get rid of garbage. The military burned massive
amounts of plastics, medical waste, body parts, tires, and other toxic
materials.
Now, soldiers are coming up with rare cancers, and respiratory ailments that are being linked to toxic fires.
"This is this generation's version of Agent Orange," Wells said.
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