Pepperell mold victim now fighting for others

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Pepperell mold victim now fighting for others

http://www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105~4746~2595051,00.html

Fear was her motivation

By ANDREW RAVENS, Sun Staff

PEPPERELL and Rick stood naked outside their ranch home

last December in 17 degree weather.

Forced to shed all personal belongings because toxic mold infested

their ee Road home, the es quickly discarded their

contaminated clothes in a plastic decontamination chamber set up on

their front lawn.

About a half dozen workers, clad in haz-mat suits, supervised the

es as they put on new clothes they had just purchased at

Target.

They were then ushered off to their new home, an empty apartment

only a mile away.

They had lost everything.

" All I felt was despair, but I turned that into motivation, " said

, who still battles a chronic case of asthma she

attributes to the mold. " I had nothing else to lose. What else did I

have to lose? "

Because she was too sick to work, , 46, lost her job. Her 6-

year-old autistic son Cameron lost his beloved Legos. There were

many long, dark nights.

Against the odds, flipped her life around like a gymnast to

become one of the country's leading mold-awareness activists.

On Thursday, about a year to the day she lost her home,

testified about the need for mold legislation before a public

hearing sponsored by Boston City Councilor Maura A. Hennigan.

Last September, she lobbied Congress on behalf of Michigan

Democratic Rep. Conyers' Toxic Mold Safety and Protection Act,

which would become the nation's first federal mold guidelines.

Fighting mold, which can trigger asthma and other chronic lung

diseases, is ' full-time job. And by all accounts she is

excelling.

" We are so lucky to have a person like that on this Earth, " said

mold victim Mulvey son, who is also Hennigan's former

chief of staff. " So many people in her situation would pull back,

but I think the country is so lucky to have her doing what she does. "

son, who was exposed to mold at Boston City Hall, met

shortly after the decontamination incident last December.

Like , she experienced dizzy spells, bloody noses, and constant

fatigue all due to mold inhalation.

And like , she had to leave work and now concentrates all

efforts towards creating legislation.

Conyers' bill is at the forefront of this fight and would establish

a national mold insurance program, provide financial grants for mold

removal and grant tax credits for those who repair the nasty damage.

Bills such as Conyers' can survive only if advocates and victims

like continue to speak up, said Hennigan.

" I was very pleased that came to the (Thursday's) hearing, "

said Hennigan. " She stayed the whole time, five hours. It goes to

show how important it is when advocates give their testimony. "

' day typically begins at her computer, where she responds to

about 300 messages from mold victims across the country seeking

advice and help.

Through the Internet, she has met other advocates such as

Carstens, a Georgia native who recently testified at Thursday's

hearing.

Carstens, of sville, Ga., runs an Internet support group for

victims of mold and poor air quality. He stayed with the es

during his visit to Boston.

" is a wonderful person, " said Carstens. " She wants to make a

change, and that's what we are all trying to do. "

Locally, continues to work closely with representatives from

the office of state Sen. O'Leary, a Barnstable Democrat.

O'Leary, who recently refiled legislation calling for the formation

of a mold-awareness task force, learned about the problem from a

family in Centerville.

" It's people like that who often make things happen, " he said. " I

filed some legislation and did it based on people like her ()

who said 'Look at this problem.' "

" I admire people like that, " he said. " That's an example of classic

citizen advocacy. "

What's more refreshing, O'Leary said, is that advocates like

usually are not politically driven and are instead motivated by

issues.

turned advocate while doing research for a civil lawsuit her

lawyer filed against two real-estate agents and a home inspector.

alleges they knew her home was heavily infested with mold and

went ahead with the sale anyway.

The case, which said could take years to resolve, is now in

the deposition phase.

Fortunately, the bank agreed to charge off the es' $220,000

mortgage, but their credit took an unrecoverable hit.

But don't expect to wallow in self-pity.

" Every year around this time I will feel pain, " said . " For us,

it's like, oh yeah, a year ago we lost everything. But I don't dwell

on that. I don't give it any real thought because it's already in

the past. "

Ravens' e-mail address is aravens@... .