I am a resident of Middletown, PA and lived here in Middletown, PA when the partial meltdown happened at TMI almost 40 years ago. My cousin is Robert Reid, who was the mayor of Middletown, PA when we had the partial meltdown at TMI.
I will never forget the day that I and my family members thought that we would die due to the uncontrolled and controlled releases of radioactive gases into the atmosphere.
The air didn’t seem right
I lived in Middletown, PA and one mile from TMI in 1979. I was a freshman at Middletown Area High School. I remember seeing lots of frightened and panicked parents parking in front of our schools and rushing into the school to pick up their kids. I asked what was going on and was told that there was some type of accident & meltdown going on at TMI. I had never thought about the nuclear plant before then.
When my mom finally picked me up from the school and I came outside, I had a strong metallic taste in my mouth. The air didn’t seem right as well. It seemed to be hot and thick for that time of month. My brother tasted metal and smelled metal as well. We were told to go inside and shut our doors and windows.
Many people packed their bags and left Middletown, PA and the surrounding areas, but my family and I did not leave due to car problems. We thought we were going to die that night.
President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn came to Middletown, PA. I remember waving to them when they were escorted down Ann Street in Middletown, PA. Reporters from all over the world were here in Middletown, PA. It was like a ghost town.
During one of the TMI anniversaries in the past I was interviewed by press from United States, Japan and by other media outlets. I do think that I and the rest of the people who lived in Middletown, PA or the surrounding areas were affected by the radioactive gases that were released during the accident. I found out that many people in Middletown, PA had metallic tastes in their mouths like my brother and myself had during the nuclear accident. Some people had burning skin too.
There is a TMI survivors’ facebook group
A few months after the TMI accident, my hair start coming out. I have lesions throughout my body and a mass. There is a big cancer cluster in Middletown,PA and the surrounding areas. Everytime we turn around, someone who was here during TMI has cancer or has died from cancer due to TMI.
There is a TMI survivors’ facebook group and thousands of people have come out of the woodwork so to speak to talk about the latent cancer that they have or the latent cancer that their love one had due to TMI. I strongly believe that the partial meltdown at TMI affected plants, animals and people. My brother Darnell and I also have a facebook group called Surviving Another Day, the TMI Citizens Survivor’s Group. Many people in that group lived in Middletown, PA and one mile from TMI as well. Many people in the group have a latent cancer or had a latent cancer or have a loved one who have a latent cancer or developed a latent cancer like leukemia, etc. and died from it. Many of the people in the group now suffer from Grave’s Disease or other diseases of the thyroid. My Uncle’s fiance had a miscarriage a year after the accident at TMI.
I’ve been assisting executive producer Jill Murphy Long of JML Films with the MELTDOWN the Film launch parties, interviewing victims of TMI and basically taking photographs and doing videos for executive producer Jill Murphy Long. I also did a MELTDOWN the Film Photoshoot with photographer Candy Delaney of Passionate Perspective Photography. Jill is also a TMI survivor and she and her brother developed a brain tumor from TMI. Her brother developed other latent cancers as well.
I interviewed a lady name Carol at one of the MELTDOWN the Film launch parties. She told me that her husband delivered oil to TMI on the day of the accident. She said that the fuel oil was very low at TMI and that her husband cleaned of some residue at TMI without being provided any protective gear. She said that other workers who were there at TMI had on protective gear. She said that years later that her husband developed a latent thyroid cancer. His doctor at Hershey Medical Center told her husband that he felt that her husband got the thyroid cancer from TMI the day that delivered the fuel oil and cleaned up the residue at TMI the day of the accident. Penn State Hershey Medical Center did a molecular study and is now showing a thyroid cancer link to the TMI nuclear accident.
I interviewed my cousin Robert Reid too for Jill. It is all on You Tube. Another woman and her film company interviewed me and did footage of me for an upcoming tv documentary. I am part of executive producer Jill Murphy Long’s East Coast team for the upcoming movie MELTDOWN: Based on True Events. We are hoping to eventually do the movie.
I know the 40th Anniversary of the TMI nuclear accident is significant. It brings back so many horrific memories.
I know without a doubt that the TMI nuclear accident affected animals, plants and people who lived in Middletown, PA and the surrounding areas during the partial meltdown.