To the Editor:
Thank you for your editorial regarding civility last week. While I accepted Terry Donahue’s apology it doesn’t justify his verbal violence. That said, we must move forward.
I’ve submitted the statement I read at the OBPB meeting to the OB Board of Health. In my statement to the BOH I shared that the biopsies I had all turned out to be malignant. I had surgery last week and await pathology reports. I share this in order to share what my doctor, Dr. Shadmehr Demehri at MGH said when I asked him about PFAS and forever chemicals. Dr. Demehri is the head of the High Risk Skin Cancer clinic as well as the Demehri Institute at MGH. His work is devoted to researching, preventing and treating cancer. His words to me were disbelief that with all the new and emerging data an entity would install artificial turf, much less so close to a sole source aquifer. I have and still share his disbelief. I am living proof of what happens when early warnings about forever chemicals are dismissed and ignored. And more importantly, I don’t want to see anyone go through any or all that I’ve had to in order to stay alive. It’s hard, it’s heartbreaking, and it’s exhausting … for me and those who love me. And it was preventable but no one was brave enough to stand up to big Pharma. That’s injustice.
I’ve never shared all the details of my journey. It’s my heartfelt hope that by sharing this now the Oak Bluffs planning board and health board will condition this project with natural turf only. Please do it for the community and our waters.
Susan Desmarais
Oak Bluffs