A 10-year-old boy is suffering from brain damage after a botched
fumigation of his family's Florida home, according to a family attorney.
Peyton McCaughey
and his family fell ill shortly after a Terminix subcontractor, Sunland Pest
Control, sprayed their Palm City home for termites on August 14, family
attorney Bill Williams said. The family was told it was safe to return to the
home two days later on August 16, Williams said.
The family
immediately began feeling ill.
The boy's uncle,
Ed Gribben, told CNN that everyone was vomiting, and Peyton's condition was
even worse.
Gribben said
Peyton had trouble standing and speaking, so the family took him to a local
clinic where a doctor suspected poisoning from fumigation.
The parents,
Lori and Carl McCaughey, and their 7-year-old daughter recovered, but Peyton
kept getting worse. After spending more than two weeks in three different
children's hospitals, he can barely speak, Williams said.
The child, who
loves Minecraft and is known for his witty personality and athletic talent, has
lost 90% of his motor skills, Gribben said.
He also lost
function of his left arm and leg, Williams said.
"He has
traumatic brain injury and loss of motor skills," Williams said. "The
rest of the family is fine, thank God. The little boy is not fine."
Williams said CT
scans show areas of concern in his brain.
"He's got
his personality; he will still smile and still laugh, but he can't get the
words out that he wants to say and can't move the way he wants to move, and
frustration sets in," Gribben said.
A source with
knowledge of the incident says the Department of Justice has opened a criminal
investigation.
And the Florida
Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services announced Friday that it, too,
"is investigating in collaboration with the (federal) EPA and the (state)
Department of Health."
"While our
investigation is ongoing, we are issuing a Stop Work Order prohibiting (Sunland
Pest Control) from conducting any fumigations at this time," the
agricultural and consumer services department said in a statement.
Sulfuryl
fluoride, a gas fumigant, was the pesticide used to fumigate, sources told CNN.
Terminix gave
this statement to CNN: "We were saddened to learn of this and our hearts
are with the family. We are carefully reviewing the matter."
Sunland Pest
Control could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.
Gribben set up a
GoFundMe page to raise money for the family so they can take time off of work
while Peyton recovers.
This is the second time this year that Terminix has been involved in a
fumigation that injured people.
In March, a family
vacationing on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, fell ill after a suspected
pesticide exposure. Preliminary tests showed the presence of methyl bromide in
villa where the family was staying. Methyl bromide is a substance that is not
permitted in the United States for indoor use.
The DOJ and
Environmental Protection Agency are investigating.
That family,
from Delaware, continues to recover, but the father and two sons have lost much
of their motor skills as well, according to a source close to the family.
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