Thursday, October 7, 2010

A Boy Named Trevor

Seven years ago, a boy named Trevor Schaefer was diagnosed with brain cancer. In his small town in rural Idaho, several others were suffering from the same disease. Trevor's family suspected environmental contamination as a likely cause for this cancer cluster, but they couldn't find any established means of improving their
community's situation.

Trevor became a champion for the protection of children and small towns from industrial contamination. He met with politicians while battling cancer, and he soon befriended California Senator Barabara Boxer. According to a recent article in PRNewswire,

Senator Boxer said: "Whenever there is an unusual increase in disease within in a community, those families deserve to know that the federal government's top scientists and experts are accessible and available to help, especially when the health and safety of children are at risk. I am pleased to be introducing this
legislation today that will enable communities to get the answers they need as quickly as possible."


Senator Boxer recently filed legislation that will establish a "streamlined process to investigate and address disease clusters across the U.S." To honor Trevor Schaefer, the Strengthening Protection For Children and Communities From Disease Clusters Act is now known as "Trevor's Law" for short. To read more about this story,
click here.

Trevor has also gone on to found the Trevor's Trek Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness about disease clusters and environmental toxins.

1 comment:

  1. Creating a database of information is one thing. Cleaning up polluted areas is another, and can be extraordinarily costly. I'm happy to see Trevor's Law going into effect, but I feel that it is still a far cry from making an impact on the lives of families living in contaminated areas...

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