They came to the podium one by one to share
their stories of nights spent gasping for breath and days spent in a
fog, with streaming eyes and pounding heads.
They
are the staff of the Middle School of the Kennebunks, and on Monday,
after a decade of suffering in near silence, they shared their very
personal medical struggles before the RSU 21 Board of Directors.
"Sometimes I cough until I throw up for half
the night," said teacher Sharon Greenglass, who was diagnosed with
environmental asthma. "I'm very scared."
"My
doctor said the building needs to be taken down," said guidance
counselor Diane Binger, who said she suffers from acid reflux, dry eye
syndrome, aching joints and inflammation. "Every time it rains it rains
in guidance."
No story was more compelling
than that of Tom Battles who, after eight years teaching at the school,
was recently moved to Kennebunk High School because of his ongoing
health issues, including lung disease. Battles recently returned to the
school for a meeting, he said, and while his blood oxygen level was 97
percent when he went in, after an hour it had dropped to 86 percent.
"When I came to MSK I was healthy," Battles said, weeping. "I think I stayed too long."
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