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[The Horrible Cost]
Summary: Toms River, N.J., has a childhood cancer rate 30 percent higher than the statistical average. Residents blame two local companies for polluting the drinking water.
Michael Gillick, age 20, stands 38 inches high, no taller than
the average 4-year-old, one of the effects of neuroblastoma, a cancer of
the nervous system. (LaCoppola-Meier)
By Buck Wolf
ABCNEWS.com
T O M S R I V E R, N. J. — Michael Gillick scares some
children. And he inspires others.
Cancer has ravaged the 20-year-old Toms River,
N.J., resident. Tumors cover his body, enveloping many of his organs, even
his optic nerve. One eye barely opens. He stands 38 inches high. And when
little kids see him, he sometimes hears them say, "Run, run, it’s a monster."
Yet Gillick struggles to live, largely to
help childhood cancer victims. "Anyone can see I have a severe cancer condition,"
he says. "If I can get through to a little kid with cancer and let him
know it’s good to be alive, that means something."
Lucky to Be Alive
Gillick has been battling neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system,
since the earliest months of his life. Doctors told his parents he’d be
lucky to reach his first birthday. Twice, he came close enough to death
for a priest to read him the last rites. Yet this month he celebrated his
20th birthday. "I know I’m living for a reason.
Maybe sometimes the doctors didn’t know that."
The Gillicks are one of some 60 families in the Toms River area who believe
that two local companies polluted their water supply with industrial solvents
that caused cancer among the children
For more than two years, federal and state
scientists have been studying this section of Dover Township after data
from the state cancer registry revealed that cancer was diagnosed in 24
Toms River residents younger than 19 between 1979 and 1995 — 10 more than
statistically expected.
In Dover Township, 90 children contracted cancer in the same time period.
According to statistical averages, health officials had expected to find
67 cases among the area’s 11,000 children.
"As we were running in and out of hospitals,
we didn’t know for years that so many people in our community faced the
same sorts of problems," says Linda Gillick, Michael’s mother and a former
teacher who now works as co-founder of Ocean of Love, a nonprofit support
group for cancer sufferers and their families.
"Then we found out," she says. "And we have
to look to each other for support."
In November 1996, scientists discovered small
levels of styrene-acrylonitrile trimer, a byproduct from plastic manufacturing
that might be a carcinogen, in water from area wells. The families and
some environmentalists pointed to two local manufacturers — Union Carbide
and Ciba Geigy — which deny any wrongdoing.
But instead of suing, some 60 families have
entered into an agreement with the companies and the local water utility,
with the help of various government regulators. The two sides meet regularly,
albeit warily, exchanging information and trying to reach some kind of
arrangement that satisfies everyone without the tremendous costs and animosity
of a court battle.
Something to Crow About
Despite the horrors of childhood cancer, Toms River has a lot to crow
about. Thousands of tourists flock to the nearby sandy beaches each year.
New businesses and industry are omnipresent. And the town reveled last
year in winning the Little League World Series.
"When we had our victory parade, a lot of
people thought that the kids with cancer should be up there with the Little
Leaguers," says Lori Cardini, whose 11-year-old daughter Jessica suffers
from leukemia. "Because in a sense, they are the real heroes."
After celebrating his birthday, Michael Gillick
considers the rest of his life borrowed time. "They said I’d never make
it to adulthood, so I figured if I made it to 20 I’d be proving them wrong,"
he says. "It’s very sweet to kiss my teen-age years goodbye."
Bad days come and go. But Gillick has done
his best to approximate normal life. He graduated high school through a
home study program, and served as best man at his older brother Kevin’s
wedding.
If he had no impediments, Gillick says he’d
be bound for medical school. But his illness makes it impossible to work,
drive a car, or even type for long periods at a keyboard. "I don’t dwell
too much on what could have been," he says. "That is a trap that can be
worse even than cancer."
"I never had the dating and going out that
other kids had," he says. "But I love my friends and family and I try to
help the kids around me. I know what it’s like to live with a condition
and I can help others."
Original Story Appeared 2/4/99 at: http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/tomsriverfamilies990203.html
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