thedrifter
05-06-05, 06:22 AM
Mother wants answers for son's injuries at Parris Island
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(Atlanta) May 5, 2005 - When WIS first aired our stories about Jason Tharp, the Marine recruit who drowned at Parris Island this past February, we got an email from a woman who wrote she knew first-hand the grief the Tharps feel.
News 10 reporter Heather Brown was able to visit recently with Malia Isaac and her son Josh just outside of Atlanta. They spent the afternoon talking about what happened to her son at boot camp, how their lives have changed since then and how she's keeping the faith.
For as long as his mom can remember, Josh Isaac wanted three things: to be a fireman, an FBI agent and a Marine.
By his 18th birthday, Josh was a Peachtree City volunteer firefighter, had gone to the FBI Academy and was headed to boot camp at Parris Island. He left only two days after his high school graduation, "I supported him. It wasn't what I had planned for him to do, but it was what he wanted. He was so excited."
Four weeks into training, June 30th, 2003, during his swim qualification something went seriously wrong at the pool. Josh almost drowned.
Today, Malia says he lives in a nursing home outside of Atlanta in a constant vegetative state, "His heart beats, his lungs work and his stomach works, but mentally, there's nothing there and there's no hope that there will ever be anything there."
He spends his days now in a room decorated with pictures of the past, a Marine flag drapes one wall and notes from his platoon are on another, "He was proud to be a Marine. He was very proud of that and I don't want to take it away from him."
Malia visits everyday. Sometimes, they sit outside for fresh air in a chair dedicated to Josh, "We've sat out here during thunderstorms. That's kind of cool, isn't it?"
It has become her second home, "This is our routine. I work. I come home. I have dinner. I see Josh. I've had people, very well-meaning people, say you don't have to come out here everyday. I know he's well taken care of. I know I don't have to, but this is my son."
He's a floor favorite among the nurses.
Doctors say any laugh or cry isn't a real response, but rather a short-circuit in his brain. In her heart, Malia has trouble believing that. She lives for the moments her son smiles.
No one knows for sure exactly what happened to Josh that day at the pool. According to the official report, he was underwater for only three seconds and CPR was started within 30 seconds.
Investigators found his injury was a result of hypoxia or oxygen deprivation. They say his brain likely went without air for six to ten minutes. The report states two possible reasons: spasms in the larynx (voicebox), which makes it tough for air to get the lungs or, a cause investigators consider more likely, an embolism from a lung cyst that burst after Josh jumped from the pool's ten foot tower.
The diagnosis comes from a doctor specially trained in water injuries. He examined Josh's records, but never saw him personally. The Marines say the real cause of of injury may never be known until an autopsy is conducted.
Malia doesn't accept that, "It was not thorough. I felt it got the job done." She also says she heard secondhand from a witness that Josh had asked for help and was refused. The Marines deny that, but again Malia wants answers one way or the other, "Rumor, truth, whatever. It should have been investigated. I just want to know what happened. I don't want to feel like his life was meaningless."
So, two weeks after Jason Tharp drowned, she submitted a request to the Marines asking them to re-open to investigation into Josh's accident, "After this happened with Jason, to me it was a red flag, you've got two recruits who drowned in less than two years. Same pool, same training exercise, something's not right here."
Malia says if Josh comprehends anything, she wants him to know mom is there, day in, day out, for years to come, "We just miss him. He was a great kid, fun to be around. Full of life and that's been taken away and nothing will replace that."
The Marines pay for all of Josh's living and medical expenses.
A Parris Island spokesman told WIS while the Marines feel for the Isaac family, they insist there was no negligence. They say the investigation fully explored all of the evidence and they stand by the final report.
WIS also talked with Marine headquarters in Quantico where Mrs. Isaac submitted her request to re-open the investigation. They tell News 10 they've received the request and are in the process of preparing a response.
The Drifter's Wife
Ellie
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Atlanta) May 5, 2005 - When WIS first aired our stories about Jason Tharp, the Marine recruit who drowned at Parris Island this past February, we got an email from a woman who wrote she knew first-hand the grief the Tharps feel.
News 10 reporter Heather Brown was able to visit recently with Malia Isaac and her son Josh just outside of Atlanta. They spent the afternoon talking about what happened to her son at boot camp, how their lives have changed since then and how she's keeping the faith.
For as long as his mom can remember, Josh Isaac wanted three things: to be a fireman, an FBI agent and a Marine.
By his 18th birthday, Josh was a Peachtree City volunteer firefighter, had gone to the FBI Academy and was headed to boot camp at Parris Island. He left only two days after his high school graduation, "I supported him. It wasn't what I had planned for him to do, but it was what he wanted. He was so excited."
Four weeks into training, June 30th, 2003, during his swim qualification something went seriously wrong at the pool. Josh almost drowned.
Today, Malia says he lives in a nursing home outside of Atlanta in a constant vegetative state, "His heart beats, his lungs work and his stomach works, but mentally, there's nothing there and there's no hope that there will ever be anything there."
He spends his days now in a room decorated with pictures of the past, a Marine flag drapes one wall and notes from his platoon are on another, "He was proud to be a Marine. He was very proud of that and I don't want to take it away from him."
Malia visits everyday. Sometimes, they sit outside for fresh air in a chair dedicated to Josh, "We've sat out here during thunderstorms. That's kind of cool, isn't it?"
It has become her second home, "This is our routine. I work. I come home. I have dinner. I see Josh. I've had people, very well-meaning people, say you don't have to come out here everyday. I know he's well taken care of. I know I don't have to, but this is my son."
He's a floor favorite among the nurses.
Doctors say any laugh or cry isn't a real response, but rather a short-circuit in his brain. In her heart, Malia has trouble believing that. She lives for the moments her son smiles.
No one knows for sure exactly what happened to Josh that day at the pool. According to the official report, he was underwater for only three seconds and CPR was started within 30 seconds.
Investigators found his injury was a result of hypoxia or oxygen deprivation. They say his brain likely went without air for six to ten minutes. The report states two possible reasons: spasms in the larynx (voicebox), which makes it tough for air to get the lungs or, a cause investigators consider more likely, an embolism from a lung cyst that burst after Josh jumped from the pool's ten foot tower.
The diagnosis comes from a doctor specially trained in water injuries. He examined Josh's records, but never saw him personally. The Marines say the real cause of of injury may never be known until an autopsy is conducted.
Malia doesn't accept that, "It was not thorough. I felt it got the job done." She also says she heard secondhand from a witness that Josh had asked for help and was refused. The Marines deny that, but again Malia wants answers one way or the other, "Rumor, truth, whatever. It should have been investigated. I just want to know what happened. I don't want to feel like his life was meaningless."
So, two weeks after Jason Tharp drowned, she submitted a request to the Marines asking them to re-open to investigation into Josh's accident, "After this happened with Jason, to me it was a red flag, you've got two recruits who drowned in less than two years. Same pool, same training exercise, something's not right here."
Malia says if Josh comprehends anything, she wants him to know mom is there, day in, day out, for years to come, "We just miss him. He was a great kid, fun to be around. Full of life and that's been taken away and nothing will replace that."
The Marines pay for all of Josh's living and medical expenses.
A Parris Island spokesman told WIS while the Marines feel for the Isaac family, they insist there was no negligence. They say the investigation fully explored all of the evidence and they stand by the final report.
WIS also talked with Marine headquarters in Quantico where Mrs. Isaac submitted her request to re-open the investigation. They tell News 10 they've received the request and are in the process of preparing a response.
The Drifter's Wife
Ellie