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MOTHER QUESTIONS IF SON'S LEUKEMIA IS RELATED
TO DEPLETED URANIUM EXPOSURE -- Father of GI
who died from leukemia shares concerns.
We have two stories. First about a mother
whose son is ill with leukemia. Second about a father whose son
died from leukemia. Video on these stories is available at the
links posted.
For more on depleted uranium, use the VA Watchdog search
engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch
.php?q=depleted+uranium&op=ph
First story
here...
http://www.kptv.
com/news/13743884/detail.html
Story below:
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Mother Claims Son's Cancer Linked To Military
Service
FOX 12 Investigators looked into a possible link between a local
soldier’s service in Iraq and his new battle against an aggressive form
of leukemia.
Andy Rounds, 22, grew up near Lebanon and joined the service after high
school, hoping to get an education and see the world.
But Rounds’ family said they think he may have received much more during
his time in the army. They said they believe he may have been exposed to
cancer-causing radiation that gave him a life-threatening disease.
Click here to find out more!
"I'm just hoping to get better soon. I'm just hoping to get better,"
said Rounds.
In 2004, then Private Rounds was serving at a post near Kirkuk, Iraq.
According to Rounds, he and a few friends were walking one night when
the sky lit up.
“There’s just a bunch of explosions,” said Rounds. “Fireballs going
everywhere and just explosion after explosion.”
Rounds said an ammunitions dump filled with old weapons exploded on his
base, but because of brain damage and treatments, Rounds barely
remembers the experience.
But Rounds’ mother, Lisa, recalled it as a turning point. She said she
believes it’s possible whatever exploded that night might have turned
the air poisonous.
“Why would a healthy, young guy get leukemia when its mostly very young
children who have a genetic predisposition to it or old people who've
been exposed to radiation for many years?” said Lisa Rounds.
Two and a half years after that explosion, Lisa Rounds found her son on
the floor of his apartment, barely conscious.
"We rushed him to the hospital and they didn't know if he had
meningitis," said Lisa Rounds.
Tests showed that Rounds had a white blood cell count of more than
400,000, 40 to 50 times that of a normal count. It was diagnosed as an
aggressive form of cancer called AML, or Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.
Doctor Tibor Kovascovics, a doctor at the Oregon Health & Science
University Cancer Institute, said he cannot make a connection between
Rounds’ military service and his leukemia.
“We see a fair number of young patients with leukemia who have not had
any exposure and who have not been to Iraq,” said Kovascovics.
A statement to FOX 12 from the military echoed that statement.
Rounds’ mother still has her suspicions and urged those who have people
returning from a tour of duty to watch their personality and their
health carefully.
"If there are other people coming back from the area he served in and
they're having these devastating health problems, maybe they can find
out what it is and save some lives,” said Lisa Rounds.
Meanwhile, Rounds remains optimistic that his body and his doctors will
win the fight.
“They’ve been doing well. As much as they can with whatever they can,”
said Rounds.
Rounds is on his third round of chemotherapy.
If doctors are able to succeed in getting the leukemia into remission,
they hope to give him a bone marrow transplant.
If not, they are planning to give him cutting-edge treatments.
-------------------------
Second story here...
http://www.
kptv.com/news/13807178/detail.html
Story below:
-------------------------
Marine's Father Warns Of Possible Cancer Link
OREGON CITY, Ore. -- The father of a local Marine who died of leukemia
has stepped forward after hearing the story of a soldier's fight against
cancer.
Andy Rounds, a 22-year-old Army soldier from Oregon, may have been
exposed to depleted uranium, a substance that gives off low levels of
radiation, when a munitions dump exploded on his Iraqi base. He's now
fighting off an aggressive form of leukemia.
Rounds' treatment is not being covered by the military because he was
not diagnosed until after he was out of the Army.
Click here to find out more!
When Steve Renner heard of Rounds' story, his heart ached. His son Eric
Renner, an Oregon City Marine, died of a similar leukemia after his time
in the military.
Steve Renner thinks his son was exposed to the depleted uranium, which
is used by the military as plating on weapons because it allows ammo to
penetrate armored vehicles.
When Renner visited his son at a military hospital in California, he
said he discovered four other Marines in the same ward who were fighting
the same cancer.
"I thought it was kind of strange," Renner said. "This is a bigger
problem than anybody really knows."
The military admitted depleted uranium gives off low levels of
radiation, but a spokesman from the Pentagon said those levels are
harmless. The military also said it has done extensive research and
found no connection between depleted uranium and leukemia.
The Renners said the Marines took good care of their son while he was
sick and that they are worried that Rounds is not getting the same kind
of care.
Renner hopes speaking out about the possible connection between depleted
uranium and leukemia will help prevent more cases.
"Maybe there's no conclusive evidence, but based on what I've seen and
what I've read that there is, there is some responsibility on the
military's part and on the government's part," he said.
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Larry Scott --
