cyclone health affects

[sans]

Hello Everyone,
My husband Bob was in cyclone Tracy 1974, we met in 1983 in the UK.
long story short we married, he was suffering from a rare illness called Reynard's and scleroderma
the doctors told him that even though they don't really know what causes these problems they think
it comes from trauma or stress.

Bob was a prawn trawler skipper and was one of only three boats to come back into port after riding Cyclone Tracy
out of 56 that set to sea that night to save their boats from crashing into the wharf.
Bob was 24 years old and the youngest skipper of the Northern Research fleet.

Bob is 60 now and from when we met it took him around ten years to tell me the story of what it was like out there
and how he survived and saved his boat and crew.
Three years ago I got him to write about it as I read that it would help him come to terms with this trauma, well it has helped him a little by telling his story and it has now been published.

What has made me so angry is that at the time people on land got a lot of help with counseling but the seamen got nothing even the news did not say much about them and how they and their families suffered from losing a husband or brother or son that drowned or got smashed against the rocks no one cared that my husband was out there fighting to keep his trawler afloat and knowing his mates were in trouble and not being able to steam over to help.

Bob' illness is taking its toll on him and his Doctors are amazed he is still living but he is a fighter and is happy that his book is out there
letting people know what fishermen go through just to get their fish 'n' chips on their plates.

How many of you have been dogged by an illness caused by the cyclones -tornadoes or real bad storms that you feel could have been prevented or eased by getting counseling at the time it happened but just slipped through the cracks.

Sandra

[Frank2]

Yes, stress from Andrew was similar - I knew a number of friends who ended up with one type of problem or another after the hurricane, all due or related to stress...

Many Katrina victims are still suffering, 5 years later, so it takes time but can make life very difficult...

Worse yet, many of the problems emerge long after the trauma has passed, so victims often get little or no sympathy from family, co-workers or friends ("You should be happy, it's one year later!", or some similar dumb comment), so it's an awful situation for many...

Frank