• Slug: Downwinders
• Runtime: 4:00
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By Emma VandenEinde
Cronkite News

HOST INTRO: 

THE U-S CONDUCTED NEARLY 200 ABOVE GROUND NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTS FROM 1945 THROUGH 1962. MOST OF THOSE TESTS TOOK PLACE IN THE NEVADA DESERT. FOR PEOPLE LIVING DOWNWIND OF THOSE TESTS… MANY ARE DEALING WITH SERIOUS ILLNESS FROM RADIATION EXPOSURE.   

CONGRESS CREATED A PROGRAM TO COMPENSATE “DOWNWINDERS,” BUT SOME COMMUNITIES, AS CRONKITE NEWS’ EMMA VANDENEINDE EXPLAINS, WERE LEFT OUT. 

———– 

EIGHTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD EDDIE PATTILLO [puh-TILL-oh] LIKES TO COLLECT ANTIQUES AND KNICK-KNACKS.

<Eddie Pattillo/Kingman Downwinder>

“This room here has a lot of memories.” (6 SECONDS)

OLD SAWS, SHOVELS AND A WASHBOARD HANG ABOVE THE FIREPLACE IN HIS HOUSE. HE COULD TALK ABOUT ALL THESE ANTIQUES FOR HOURS.

<Eddie Pattillo/Kingman Downwinder>

“Well, I had most of this stuff. You know, I’ve got a whole storage bin full of other stuff, too.”

Me: “I’m sure every single object has a story, doesn’t it?”
Eddie “Yeah. Yes it does.” (11 SECONDS)

THAT’S NOT THE ONLY MEMORY THAT EDDIE PATTILLO’S HELD ONTO OVER THE YEARS. THIS MEMORY IS ONE HE CAN’T SEEM TO GET RID OF.

<Eddie Pattillo/Kingman Downwinder>

“I had the first cancer…We got taken care of and I was free for about 20 years and then it hit my intestines…keeps cropping up here and there in the other place.” (15 SECONDS)

HE WAS IN GRADE SCHOOL IN KINGMAN, ARIZONA WHEN THE U-S TESTED  NUCLEAR WEAPONS ABOVE GROUND AT THE NEVADA TEST SITE NORTH OF LAS VEGAS.  THE FALLOUT OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL CAME FROM NEVADA DOWNWIND TO KINGMAN.

SINCE HIS DIAGNOSIS IN 1997, EDDIE PATTILLO HAS RECEIVED CANCER TREATMENT AT THE MAYO CLINIC IN PHOENIX. HIS DAUGHTER, KIM, DRIVES HIM TO APPOINTMENTS FROM KINGMAN…

<Kim Pattillo/Daughter>

“We’ve left here at one or two o’clock in the morning to get him to his appointments at eight.” (7 SECONDS)

KIM PATTILLO SAYS, IT’S BEEN AN EMOTIONAL ENDEAVOR.

<Kim Pattillo/Daughter>

“He’s just in a lot of pain. I mean, we spent the last Sunday in the E.R. for six hours because he had huge amount of pain… in his stomach.” (11 SECONDS)

HER BROTHER, CULLIN PATTILLO, ALSO STRUGGLES.

<Cullin Pattillo/Son>

“I had conversations with him about…what assets were where, how to take care of mom…what to do when he goes away, and that’s just not a conversation you like to have.” (10 SECONDS)

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS TAKEN SOME STEPS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE MEDICAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE BLASTS. IN 19-90, CONGRESS PASSED THE RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION ACT. IT GIVES 50-THOUSAND DOLLARS TO DOWNWINDERS WHO HAVE CERTAIN CANCERS LIKE BLADDER AND COLON CANCER.

FIVE ARIZONA COUNTIES, INCLUDING APACHE AND COCAHNINO COUNTY, ARE COVERED IN THE LEGISLATION. RESIDENTS LIVING IN PARTS OF MOHAVE COUNTY NORTH OF THE GRAND CANYON WERE INCLUDED BUT THE REST OF THE  COUNTY HAS BEEN LEFT OUT.

<Eddie Pattillo/Kingman Downwinder>

“They intentionally left Mohave County out and people said, ‘Oh, that had to be a mistake.’ It was no mistake…it was an intentional, spiteful thing they did.” (15 SECONDS)

WITHOUT THAT COVERAGE, EDDIE PATTILLO PAYS OUT OF POCKET FOR ALL HIS MEDICAL TREATMENTS. EDDIE’S SON, CULLIN PATTILLO, SAYS THE FAMILY HAS ALREADY PAID 12-THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR HIS MEDICAL TREATMENT, AND THEY ARE CONTINUING TO PAY $500 A MONTH.

CULLIN PATTILLO SAYS THE COMPENSATION WOULD HELP.

<Cullin Pattillo/Son>

“This is a paltry payment for what they’ve been through. Really, they want some acknowledgment that they have been wronged.” (11 SECONDS)

LAST YEAR, ARIZONA CONGRESSMAN GREG STANTON – A DEMOCRAT-  INTRODUCED “THE DOWNWINDERS PARITY ACT.” IT WOULD MEAN DOWNWINDERS ANYWHERE IN MOHAVE COUNTY AND CLARK COUNTY IN NEVADA WOULD RECEIVE COMPENSATION. STANTON SAYS THIS BILL REPRESENTS HOPE FOR DOWNWINDERS.

<Greg Stanton/U.S. Representative, 9th Congressional District>

“It’s not just about the money, it’s about the United States government acknowledging that they did wrong to these families and saying to these families, ‘We see you, we understand the pain that you are going through, we care about you, and we want to make sure you receive justice.” (17 SECONDS)

THAT “JUSTICE” COULD COME MUCH LATER SINCE THE LEGISLATION IS STALLED IN A HOUSE COMMITTEE. ALL EDDIE PATTILLO CAN DO IS WAIT FOR FINANCIAL HELP. IN THE MEANTIME, HIS FOUR SCHNAUZERS HELP DISTRACT HIM FROM HIS CANCER…

<NAT SND…DOGS BARKING..UP FULL 2X, FADE UNDER>

<NAT SND…”COME HERE SALLY. CAN YOU SPEAK?” BARK!…UP FULL 7SX, FADE UNDER AND OUT>

…BUT THE REALITY OF EDDIE PATTILLO’S  SITUATION IS STILL THERE.

<Eddie Pattillo/Kingman Downwinder>

“I hope I live to be one more day older, day by day. You know?” (6 SECONDS)

THE NEW LEGISLATION MIGHT NOT COVER ALL OF EDDIE PATTILLO’S MEDICAL BILLS. BUT IT’S  ONE EFFORT TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE HUNDREDS IN MOHAVE COUNTY WHO CONTINUE TO FEEL UNSEEN ALL THESE YEARS LATER. 

EMMA VANDENEINDE, CRONKITE NEWS. 

———————————————————————————————————————

ANCHOR TAG: PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE  FIVE ARIZONA COUNTIES THAT ARE ALREADY ELIGIBLE FOR FINANCIAL COMPENSATION HAVE UNTIL JULY 11 TO FILE FOR THAT MONEY.  

IF THE DOWNWINDERS PARITY ACT PASSES BEFORE THEN, IT COULD PROVIDE COMPENSATION FOR THOSE FACING MEDICAL BILLS IN KINGMAN AND CLARK COUNTIES.