Letter to the Editor – Greg Hinton

A landfill. Some of the supervisors want to know what the big deal is with putting a landfill by someone’s house. Some of the supervisors even said we would never know it’s there. Well, let me tell you why my family’s going to know it’s there.

In February 2002, my son, Graham was diagnosed with cancer. He was 3 years old. That’s a really hard thing for a parent to say – my child has cancer. But for us it was a reality. For 4 months, we watched as his little body withered away trying to beat the unthinkable. In May 2002, our doctor at St. Jude told us Graham’s cancer was progressively resistant and we had 2 weeks to get a break. What he meant was, if the cancer didn’t slow down, in 2 weeks we would take Graham home to spend our last days with him. Most parents don’t know what it feels like to sleep with your hand on your child’s heart just to make sure its still beating. We do.

Everyday we prayed for a break and everyday we were thankful he could look at us and want a hug or want to hear someone sing Jesus Loves Me just one more time. Finally, we were blessed with a break 10 days into that 2-week period, but that break meant Graham would have to undergo high dose chemo and total body radiation treatments that could also cost us our child.

We had to make the decision to put our child through treatments that could cost him his life or help save his life – something you should pray you are never asked to do. We agreed we would do anything it took just to have one more day and began the treatments. By mid June he was declared in remission but that meant that he had to undergo a bone marrow transplant.

After his high dose treatments, he was so weak, had been through so much plus the transplant process coupled with his aggressive cancer forced the doctors to give us only a 15% chance of survival after transplant. Our outlook was grim to say the least. But Graham is a fighter and with the Lord’s help and the prayers of many family, friends and strangers we were finally able to bring Graham home almost a year after our nightmare started.

Everyday I thank God for my son and giving us just one more day. We have made it through the first 5 years but our next hurdle is secondary cancers due to his body being weakened by the treatments. No parent wants to think about their life without their child, but for us, that is a very real concern – everyday.

We wake up every morning and know that we have been blessed just to see him. But every bump, every bruise, every cough, every sneeze causes us to think twice. I tell you all this because prior to our coming home we were told that the house would have to be free from fungus, sheetrock dust, or any type of construction debris. Cancer patients have weaker immune systems than healthy people because of the treatment it takes to beat the monster. We don’t know what triggers cancer but we do know there is significant amount of investigation as well as litigation concerning landfills and their link to cancer causing emissions – even rubbish landfills. Construction debris – specifically drywall dust – contains a fungus that attacks and destroys the lungs. It also emits a gas as it decays that has been linked to some cancers. Most of us can fight it off but cancer survivors have to be ever aware of the danger. Our home is barely past 500 feet from the proposed landfill property site. Cancer is scary enough for anyone but for a 3 year old he needed to know there was a safe place. Everyday he looked at me and asked, “Daddy, when can I go home?” So for me this fight is not just about the land – it’s about the lives surrounding the land – it’s about home. By placing this landfill beside our home, they are taking away that safe place and potentially issuing my son a death sentence. That’s something they should wake up and think about everyday!

Our community came to our side when we needed them. Our community is where our son feels safe. Our community is where the land has been preserved through the generations to pass down to our children. By putting this landfill in, the supervisors are taking that land – that privilege – away from my son. By putting in this landfill they are taking away the future he fought so hard for. This, for me, is about a group of supervisors forcing my family out of our home and off our land where today I can provide a safe place to raise my son. My son’s future in the only home he knows will be taken away because we will have to move, all so that the supervisors can dump somebody else’s garbage. I cannot chance my child’s life on the ‘promised safety’ of this landfill.

Because of this, we feel compelled to use every method possible to ensure it doesn’t go in. We are circulating a petition; not only to stop it at this location, but also to stop it from happening anywhere close to homes. If it can happen to us, it can happen to you. No community should have to go through what ours is.

Yes, Gary Ross, Jeff Patterson, Jimmy Tate Waldon, Jeff Rencher, and Keith Fields – we’ll know it’s there. It’s time that you stepped up and treated the people who put you in office better than the piece of garbage you are trying to find a home for.

No child should have to endure what mine has and no child should be forced out of his home and off his land for a piece of garbage. Graham’s experience taught us life is tough enough without having to worry about a landfill being built next door. I know that whatever it takes, I will do the right thing for my son. The question to the supervisors is – Will you really do the right thing? Four years from now, when you are asking for votes and re-election will you be able to say you did the right thing or are you willing to have someone from our community stand up and say that this board of supervisors had an unacceptable disregard for human life.

In closing, I hope everyone understands why this is a big deal and why we’re so upset. Please sign the petition and call your supervisor.

Greg Hinton
(662) 287-2162
(662) 808-1030

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