Family coughing up blood and forced them to flee their newly purchased home as creek water turned blue and wildlife disappeared after chemical train disaster
- Nathan and Kelly Izotic were forced to flee despite living outside the designated ‘danger of death’ zone created by the February 3 Norfolk Southern derailment
- The couple revealed wildlife has fled and they now fear their newly bought 15-acre property, two miles from chemical train disaster, may never be repaired
- They were forced to leave their East Palestine home the weekend after the environmental catastrophe when they came down with aggressive symptoms
The first obvious sign was the dead fish bobbing in their creek and a toxic blue film on the water.
But now there’s something else missing from one Ohio couple’s woodland ‘paradise’ home two miles from the East Palestine chemical train disaster: Birdsong and the constant chitter chatter of squirrels.
The massive acrid black cloud that spewed from the fiery wreck engulfed Nathan and Kelly Izotic’s property within 24 hours of the February 3 disaster, carried by a westerly wind.
The environmental and potentially lethal fallout from the Norfolk Southern rail company’s ‘chemical bomb’ derailment attacked them on two levels.
Since then, they have been struck with agonizing sickness and coughing up blood, and now fear a cancer diagnosis in years to come due to two known carcinogenic chemicals from the fiery cloud of the crash.
The couple is facing an environmental catastrophe on their newly bought 15-acre property. Wildlife has fled and they now believe they might never bounce back .
As DailyMail.com walked with them through their woodland as they tested toxicity levels in the brook, chemical lab technician Kelly revealed: ‘We had red and gray squirrels through this property, constantly chitter chattering to each other. It was pretty loud.
‘And now there are none. They’ve gone completely because of the toxicity all around them right here.
‘There’s no small birds either. They were everywhere, but they’ve taken off. That must tell you something.’
The couple, who live outside the mandatory evacuation zone that was designated ‘danger of death’, were forced to leave their home nonetheless the weekend after the Friday derailment when they started feeling violently sick.
‘Within 24 hours we had burning noses, burning lips, chest congestion, sore throats and headaches, big, big headaches,’ said Kelly, 45.
‘My German Shepherd dog Diesel kept throwing up and was lethargic.’
Energy industry worker Nathan, 29, said: ‘The thick cloud was billowing right over our house for the two days we stayed.
‘The day after the derailment I started having symptoms, almost like Covid symptoms, like someone was pushing down on my chest. I had very strong pressure.
‘Throughout the day it started getting severe. I had a very bad cough, very bad feeling in my lungs and throat. And the following day it got worse.
‘I had burning on my lips, nose, and eyes and a severe cough.’
The couple quickly packed and fled to another property near the Pennsylvania-New York state line.
Nathan continued: ‘I woke up about 6am after the night we evacuated and I was on the verge of calling the ER. I was coughing up blood.
‘All I could think of was to strip down and cool myself off and go outside to get some relief. I was hot all over. I was very tired.
‘It was until Thursday or Friday that week until I started to feel some relief. Coming back here now though my lips are starting to get tingly again and I feel a scratch in my throat and I’m getting headaches.’
Read more here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11760073/Ohio-couple-left-coughing-blood-wildlife-fled-thanks-chemical-train-disaster.html