10-year-old boy suffers brain damage after termite tenting
Family says Terminex subcontractor told them house was safe
UPDATED 8:24 AM EDT Sep 04, 2015
PALM CITY, Fla. —Peyton McCaughey turned 10 Thursday in Miami Children's Hospital, barely able to turn his head, unable to stand up or talk.
His family said the boy has suffered brain damage after termite fumigation on their house.
They said the whole family began vomiting the night of Aug. 16, after a Terminix subcontractor told them it was safe to go back in their house that had been tented for termites.
But while the parents and their 7-year-old daughter recovered, Peyton got worse.
"He was having uncontrollable muscle movements, couldn't stand up, couldn't speak so they took him to local walk-in clinic and the doctor quickly recognized it was probably poisoning from a (fumigation) treatment," said Peyton's uncle Ed Gribben.
The little boy with the big personality and love for sports was in ICU for weeks. Gribben said he has brain damage, and will likely never fully recover.
The family has retained a lawyer because they said Terminix has not responded to their questions about what happened.
"And based on all the facts we have in our investigation, the chemicals utilized in the fumigation have poisoned this little boy," said lawyer Bill Williams.
A Terminix spokesman released this statement: "We are saddened to learn of this and our hearts are with the family. We are carefully reviewing the matter."
The McCaugheys want answers though, and most of all, they want their Peyton to recover and come back home.
"Life as he's known it has been stolen from him. It's not going to be the same," said Gribben.
Gribben has set up a Go Fund Me account to help his sister Lori, who is assistant principal at Martin County High School, and her husband Carl, who will be out of work for weeks, while they stay with Peyton in Miami.