A faecal nightmare

WESTERN BUREAU:

A year ago, Christine Morrison of Graham Heights, St Andrew, developed pre-asthmatic conditions.

"I would just cough non-stop for weeks. I coughed for three months straight," said Morrison, who lives in proximity to two open pits overflowing with excrement from Hill View Close in the community.

Both uncovered pits serve the 30 townhouses at Hill View Close. "When the pit overflows, the water comes to my door," Morrison told The Sunday Gleaner.

Her faecal nightmare started six years ago when the top of the first pit caved in.

And her medical problems commenced two years ago when she started having respiratory challenges. Morrison said she became so ill, she was advised by her doctors to do an allergy test to see what could be triggering her problems.

The test results showed that she was breathing air pollutants containing residual toxins. The results, said: "The effects of the accumulated toxins were diverse and frequently delayed in onset. Sulphur dioxide found in her blood showed her condition could have likely been generated by the burning of wood, coal and petroleum products or well waters imparting a distinctly disagreeable odour of rotting eggs."

"Rotting eggs is exactly what I smell daily from the pits at my doorway," said Morrison.

Shocked at medical results

She said when her doctor read the report he was shocked. It is believed her condition may have been triggered by the explosive methane and other gases created by the decomposition of human waste.

She said in addition to the gas that she breathed daily, sometimes there was an acidic taste at the back of her throat.

Morrison was forced to move from her home for four months and never experienced any respiratory problems during her absence. "As soon as I returned, I started feeling the taste at the back of my throat."

She is unable to entertain friends at home and is too embarrassed to invite anyone who is not already aware of her situation. "The people who do come to visit are the ones that have known me for years."

Commenting on the situation, head of the School of Public Health and Health Technology, Professor Dr Winston Davidson, said Morrison could get spasms of the bronchial tubes if she continues to inhale things that precipitate an asthmatic episode.

"Her condition could also lead to septicemic shock as a result of septicemia, which can lead to infections anywhere in the body, affecting the brain, heart and kidneys," said the professor.

- J. S.