They're dead.
Their bodies are cold now, and those who loved them will never hear them tell them they love them back again - unless they recorded it in the last days of their lives, specifically for that purpose. Which would have been absolutely horrible, of course, as Legionnaire's Disease is anything but a pleasant way to die. Let me list a few of the symptoms for you.
"Those with Legionnaires' disease usually have fever, chills, and a cough, which may be dry or may produce sputum. Almost all with Legionnaires' experience fever, while approximately half have cough with sputum, and one third cough up blood or bloody sputum. Some also have muscle aches, headache, tiredness, loss of appetite, loss of coordination (ataxia), chest pain, or diarrhea and vomiting.[6]"
- Wikipedia page on Legionnaire's Disease, accessed 16th January 2016 - and don't tell me that Wikipedia is an unreliable source, because they're one of the only sources I personally know of to actually write the article like a proper essay, and include their own sources on the page, as you can see in my quote.
It also goes on to cover the fact that Legionnaire's has some rather nasty psychological and neurological affects, such as impaired cognition and confusion, which might sound moderately benign (and amusing, if taken with a heavy dose of British Comedy) but believe me when I say that there would be nothing more distressing than having a disease that is entirely likely to kill you, or that you know is killing you, as you've been told you may have as short a time to live as a few days, when you are too confused to know what else is going on.
A nurse comes in with your dinner, and you don't know what's going on.
A doctor comes in to see if the infection is getting any better, and you don't know what's going on.
Your family come to pray over you - they've lost so much hope they've now turned to God himself - and you don't know what's going on.
You don't know who's doing what and where and how or why or when, and certainly you wouldn't know what was killing you and how it was killing you and why it was killing you and why they switched the water and who was doing what and what's going on because you don't know what's going on and-
You're dying and confused. Probably panicking, honestly. I would be.
Can you imagine that? I feel distressed and afraid just thinking about it, I'll be perfectly honest. And then you'd cough up 'bloody sputum' too. Lovely.
Now, forget for a moment about how scared and in pain and confused you'd be because of the onset of your illness, and now think about how unbelievably angry you'd be.
Because the entire reason you're ill at all is down to the local government wanting to save money.
Yes. That's right.
They made the switch between water providers - The City of Detroit, who had at this point been supplying them with purchased, treated water from Lake Huron for some 50 years, to taking water from the Flint river and treating it accordingly - in an effort to save $5 million in two years.
This actually would have been ok. Everything would have been fine - although I'd have been curious to know where the saved money way going, Governor Snyder - if it weren't for the fact that river water is, by its very nature, more corrosive than lake water.
It leached lead from the old lead water pipes in much of the city, and it was soon bad enough for the denizens of Flint to complain of bad tasting, bad smelling, bad looking water. Not only that, but it has been suggested that the change in water has also somehow allowed the disease to have a presence in the city. In fact, there was a study done which suspects humidifiers in buildings of-
Well. I actually have another quote for that.
"Respiratory care devices such as humidifiers and nebulizers used with contaminated tap water may contain Legionella species, so using sterile water is very important.[13]"
And for reference, here's a photo of some water from Flint.
Sterile water, right?
I should mention that this picture was taken in a Hospital. This is Hospital water. Water that is ideally completely sterile, and, in many places, is pretty much completely sterile.
I'll give you that
And it's brown with pollution and contamination, because of money.
Wow. That's a real buzzword, isn't it? Money. Seems like the world revolves around it - like nothing else matters.
I'd like to know when any amount of money became worth putting the lives of the innocent at risk, personally.
Because this isn't even thinking about the inevitable death toll from lead poisoning, either. Or the effect it will have on the children who survive it. You know that lead poisoning harms the brain directly, right? There has been an observed drop in academics scores, and IQ, in those afflicted by it.
And there is no way to reverse the effects. It's permanent.
The disgusting, money-motivated shortsightedness of the Flint politicians has cost lives - invariably more than the current body count of 10 - and it may well have cost children their future in more ways than one, too.
I feel sick.
~ Baxster Brand
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