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Updated 03/10/08 |
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WELCOME TO WORKED TO DEATH
Hi, let us introduce
ourselves, we are Carol Shea and Kate Greco,
wives of John Shea and John Greco. Our
husbands were friends and co-workers for over 30
years at Prattt and Whitney Aircraft. They
both lost their lives within one month of
each other to a VERY RARE form of brain cancer,
GLIOBLASTOMA MULTIFORME.
GLIOBLASTOMA MULTIFORM MAGLIGNANT BRAIN TUMORS
The Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM)
primary brain tumor is one of the most malignant
and difficult brain tumors to treat. It is
also a very rare type of tumor. According
to the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the
United States,
www.cbtrus.org GBM's strike an average of
2.96 people per 100,000 - less than .003 percent
- every year. The State Health Department,
in consultation with federal health and safety
experts, is investigating the possibility of a
brain tumor cluster at Pratt & Whitney's
Connecticut plants. We have, with the help
of local newspapers and TV stations running our
story, compiled a list of over 87 confirmed
Glioblastoma cases, we have an additional 41
confirmed cases with other forms of brain tumors
at Pratt & Whitney. THIS IS WELL BEYOND THE
PERCENTAGES!!!!!!!
We hope to inform you and
engage your support for our efforts to help
clean up this toxicity which we feel caused our
husbands and many other deaths. We hope
you will read on to see what our efforts have
uncovered. We are involved in the largest
study of its type in history which is being
undertaken by the Universities of Pittsburgh and
Chicago, under the direction of Dr. Gary Marsh,
Dr. Frank S. Lieberman, both of the University
of Pittsburgh and Dr. N.A. Esmen of the
University of Illinois at Chicago with the
cooperation of the State of Connecticut
Department of Public Health through William
Gerrish its Director of Public Health
Communications.
We would like to thank our
Attorneys, Richard Gross and Matt Shafner of
O'Brien, Shafner, Stuart, Kelly & Morris and
also our California firm of Alexander, Hawes &
Audet, especially, Amanda Hawes. Without
their continued efforts and support we would not
have gotten where we are today.
We would also like to thank
the many representatives of the media who have
continued to give us their support and have
helped us get the attention of the public to our
efforts.
Our thanks also go out to the
Local 707 IAM/AW Union reps, like Debbie
Belancik, who represent Pratt & Whitney Workers
for their support and unending efforts to help
this cause. This cause would never have
gotten this far without their continued
involvement and support. We have found a
group of friends with the same desire to see
change and it is appreciated.
Please read our story and we
surely thank you for your interest.
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A
Message from Carol Shea and Kate Greco
about Our Website and its Purpose!
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Realizing that
this tumor is a very rare type, it seemed very suspicious to
us that both our husbands would be affected with the same
illness. Since our husbands contracted this tumor only
months apart, we started rersearching the causes of the
brain tumor that eventually took their lives. We found that
there were two areas which needed to be looked into, and
that is where it all started.
The first
area we looked into was their family histories and if there
was any past history of the illness. Both of our husbands
had relatively large families, we found that no one in
either of their families had suffered from this type of
brain tumor. The second cause was environmental effects,
which covered a host of different chemicals that could be
related to this type of brain tumor. Here are just a few
excerpts from several publications researched:
"EXPOSURE TO CERTAIN CHEMICALS, INCLUDING CHLORINATED
HYDROCARBONS (LIKE PVC) AND BENZENE, IS ASSOCIATED WITH
HIGHER RISK OF BRAIN CANCERS." excerpted from
www.Canceranswers.com dated 2/3/00.
"BRAIN
TUMORS OCCUR MORE FREQUENTLY IN PEOPLE REGULARLY EXPOSED
TO: ACRYLONITRILE, VINYL CHLORIDE, FORMALDEHYDE,
LUBRICATING OILS, N-NITROSO COMPOUNDS, PHENOLS, PESTICIDES,
PROLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS AND ORGANIC SOLVENTS."
excerpted from The Brain Tumor Association: A Primer of
Brain Tumors: Causes dated 7/27/00
www.abta.org/primer/causes.htm
"Yale
epidemiologist Tongzhang Zheng published a new occupational
study in the spring of 2001, based on his examination of 375
glio cases in Iowa. He found an increased risk of brain
cancer for, among others, sheet metal workers and workers
with high exposure to solvents." as published in the New
Haven Advocate article "Worked to Death" dated August 2,
2001. In our research, we also have examined - MSDS papers
(Material Safety Data Sheets) - which were obtained - they
are used as the standard information that manufacturers
provide about the chemical makeup and health effects of
their hazardous products. Among them, sulfuric acid, which
contains formaldehyde, many petroleum-based cutting fluids
and lubricants; and numerous organic solvents. Those
include trichloroethylene, or TCE, a human carcinogen, and
the nearly identical-sounding buth somewhat milder 1,1,1,
trichlorethane. All of which substances were used by John
Shea and John Greco at points in their careers with Pratt
and Whitney. This is just the tip of the iceberg, there is
not enough room on this website to list all of the toxic
hazards these men were exposed t over their long employment
with Pratt, for instance, contaminated drinking water,
toxic chemical spills and many others.
Take a
look at the New Haven Advocate newspaper archives for an
article written by Carole Bass & Camille Jackson published
on August 2, 2001 entitled "WORKED TO DEATH", from which
this website found its title. They did an excellent job of
showing what life at Pratt and Whitney was like for these
men.
No
one can bring our husbands back to us, we have suffered a
tremendous loss, but, someone has to do something to stop
this from happening and maybe save a few lives. By doing
this we feel we can keep the promises we made to our
husbands, that we would work to make sure that this toxcity
becomes known to the public and that someone does something
about it. The killing must stop somewhere.
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"HAPPY
MAN" as written by John Shea and
published by
the
Record-Journal Newspaper on January
20, 2000.
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Dear Editor:
I just recently had
surgery to have cancer removed from both sides of my
brain. I have had many people ask me how I could still
be enjoying myself. I always look so good. The reason
for this is I have a wonderful wife who has taken great
care of me. In the first few weeks she had to take me
to the New Haven Hospital every day. Now she takes me
about once a month. She had to quit her job of about
fifteen years to do this, but she is handling everything
really well.
I also have a wonderful
son and daughter-in-law who call almost every day to see
how I am doing. I also have a great sister and
brother-in-law and my nieces and nephew who care about
me. I also have gotten closer to the friends I have
been working with for almost thirty years. I don't work
with them anymore, now they keep in touch either over
the phone or by e-mail to see how I am doing. I also
have gotten closer with my neighbors. They have been
really looking out for me. They aren't just neighbors
anymore, they are real good friends. This is the reason
so many people ask me "how can you be having such a good
time all the time?" I am a very lucky and happy man.
John Shea
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