Living Life in a Cancer Cluster Parents and Children Looking for Answers

Summary: Toms River, N.J.,  has a childhood  cancer rate 30 percent higher  than the  statistical average.   Residents blame  two local  companies for  polluting the  drinking water.

Michael Gillick, age 20,  stands 38 inches high, no taller than the average 4-year-old, one of the effects of neuroblastoma, a cancer of
the nervous system. (LaCoppola-Meier)
 

By Buck Wolf   ABCNEWS.com

T O M S   R I V E R, N. J. — Michael Gillick scares some children. And he inspires others.
     Cancer has ravaged the 20-year-old Toms River, N.J., resident. Tumors cover his body, enveloping many of his organs, even his optic nerve. One eye barely opens. He stands 38 inches high. And when little kids see him, he sometimes hears them say, "Run, run, it’s a monster."
     Yet Gillick struggles to live, largely to help childhood cancer victims. "Anyone can see I have a severe cancer condition," he says. "If I can get through to a little kid with cancer and let him know it’s good to be alive, that means something."

Lucky to Be Alive
Gillick has been battling neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system, since the earliest months of his life. Doctors told his parents he’d be lucky to reach his first birthday. Twice, he came close enough to death for a priest to read him the last rites. Yet this month he celebrated his 20th birthday.      "I know I’m living for a reason. Maybe sometimes the doctors didn’t know that."      The Gillicks are one of some 60 families in the Toms River area who believe that two local companies polluted their water supply with industrial solvents that caused cancer among the children
     For more than two years, federal and state scientists have been studying this section of Dover Township after data from the state cancer registry revealed that cancer was diagnosed in 24 Toms River residents younger than 19 between 1979 and 1995 — 10 more than statistically expected.

In Dover Township, 90 children contracted cancer in the same time period. According to statistical averages, health officials had expected to find 67 cases among the area’s 11,000 children.
     "As we were running in and out of hospitals, we didn’t know for years that so many people in our community faced the same sorts of problems," says Linda Gillick, Michael’s mother and a former teacher who now works as co-founder of Ocean of Love, a nonprofit support group for cancer sufferers and their families.
     "Then we found out," she says. "And we have to look to each other for support."
     In November 1996, scientists discovered small levels of styrene-acrylonitrile trimer, a byproduct from plastic manufacturing that might be a carcinogen, in water from area wells. The families and some environmentalists pointed to two local manufacturers — Union Carbide and Ciba Geigy — which deny any wrongdoing.
     But instead of suing, some 60 families have entered into an agreement with the companies and the local water utility, with the help of various government regulators. The two sides meet regularly, albeit warily, exchanging information and trying to reach some kind of arrangement that satisfies everyone without the tremendous costs and animosity of a court battle.

Something to Crow About
Despite the horrors of childhood cancer, Toms River has a lot to crow about. Thousands of tourists flock to the nearby sandy beaches each year. New businesses and industry are omnipresent. And the town reveled last year in winning the Little League World Series.
     "When we had our victory parade, a lot of people thought that the kids with cancer should be up there with the Little Leaguers," says Lori Cardini, whose 11-year-old daughter Jessica suffers from leukemia. "Because in a sense, they are the real heroes."
     After celebrating his birthday, Michael Gillick considers the rest of his life borrowed time. "They said I’d never make it to adulthood, so I figured if I made it to 20 I’d be proving them wrong," he says. "It’s very sweet to kiss my teen-age years goodbye."
     Bad days come and go. But Gillick has done his best to approximate normal life. He graduated high school through a home study program, and served as best man at his older brother Kevin’s wedding.
     If he had no impediments, Gillick says he’d be bound for medical school. But his illness makes it impossible to work, drive a car, or even type for long periods at a keyboard. "I don’t dwell too much on what could have been," he says. "That is a trap that can be worse even than cancer."
     "I never had the dating and going out that other kids had," he says. "But I love my friends and family and I try to help the kids around me. I know what it’s like to live with a condition and I can help others."

Original Story Appeared 2/4/99 at: http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/tomsriverfamilies990203.html
 

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