Mother wants answers for son's injuries at Parris Island

[thedrifter]

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

[lprkn]

Well, two recruits in two years. I think that's pretty good considering they graduate somewhere around 15,000 per year or so.

[jgorosco]

I hate to sound cruel or mean but Sh it happens. I feel for the family, But what I am tired of is when something bad happens the want to blame the CORPS for negligence. When we all know for a fact that in Bootcamp you are watched like a hawk while there. Things happen to people that have underlying medical problems. Again this may sound cruel but this may be GOD's way of sorting out the weak. And I apoligize in advance for sounded cruel to some that may get offended.

SEMPER FI
IYAOYAS

[USMCgrunt0331]

I agree 100% with you both, I think boot camp has an outstanding safety record considering as many people that go there every year and the type of training that goes on there.

[Toby M]

It's unfortunate this has happened even once in the past (let alone several times) but I have to agree with you guys, the program ain't broke so don't fix it!

[GySgtRet]

Throught out all of the years at Parris Island, or anywhere a recruit is trained there are problems. Training at the depots are supposed to be tough it gets you conditioned and not programmed to cope with the stresses that lay ahead of the years that hopefully you will serve. I cannot imagine with the costs of traing an individual at the recruit depots that there would be incidents that deglect would occur. The drill instructors do not want a mar on their records. They could be medical, they could be for the lack of listening to the instructors..??? Who knows for sure? I feel for all of the families, I truely do.

[yellowwing]

The recruit that just didn't wake up during the Crucible had an unknown previous medical problem.

In this case, telling the parent they won't for sure until the autopsy wasn't the smartest answer to give, IMO.

We only had one training accident in my platoon. A recruit was negotiating the three level tower and fell about 20 feet. Luckily he landed square on his back upon the thick sawdust layers.

Our Drill Instructor was immediately right on him telling him not to move. A Corpsman was hustled over in a flash. The recruit had just gotten the wind knocked out of him. He could have just as easily broken his neck.

As raw recruits we were just stunned motionless at the time. The immediate actions of our Drill Instructor and the Corpsman showed us outstanding examples of training and situational awareness.

[Since1775]

Its is sad...

But Boot Camp is made of the rigid training and ironclad discipline and I never doubted a Fellow Marines training....EVER

Semper Fi

[magicalx]

I was at the pool for swim qual when the February incident occured. I definitely agree with all the previous comments...since the day I arrived at Parris Island, it was constantly stressed that safety was paramount. Anything and everything we did was done with our lives and health as the number one priority.
HOWEVER...(yes, there is a however)
Something went wrong that day at the pool with that kid. The kid was being a punk all day and shouldn't have been in the pool to begin with. A belligerant attitude at the pool gets you kicked out as a safety violator.
Everyone knew the kid was terrified of the pool and yet he still managed to drown with at least 5-10 instructors in the pool itself and another 5-10 instructors walking around. Most of the instructors are some of the best swimmers in the Armed Forces. Maybe someone wasn't paying attention...maybe someone took their brand of discipline a little to far...I really don't know.
Somethings just don't add up to me and I believe that young man should be alive today. This incident was one of the most prominant that stands out in my boot camp experience.
For your information...several instructors and officers are no longer at MCRD Parris Island. The pool staff was pretty much rebuilt by the time I graduated.

[Old Marine]

Sounds like this guy could have had the same problem at the local swimming hole at home.

[al20852]

Well, boot camp is hard and dangerous. I would like to think that if a recruit was hurt or killed and errors were made by staff it would be owned up to. But the bottom line is that you simply can't prepare Marines for battle without taking risks. And when you take risks injuiries will occur. It's not like going to work for IBM or GE. You can no more blame the Marines for the inevitable injuries suffered during training than you can blame them for those that occur in Iraq. It is a dangerous occupation.