The governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands said a Tatnall School administrator and two sons remain in serious to critical condition from pesticide poisoning acquired during a vacation in St. John in March.
Steve Esmond, 49, who is head of Tatnall's Middle School, is suffering from severe paralysis "and for all intents and purposes must be strapped in to even sit," Gov. Kenneth Mapp told reporters during a news conference, according to the Virgin Islands Daily News.
James J. Maron, a Wilmington lawyer and friend of the Esmond family who has been acting as their spokesman, did not respond to requests from The News Journal this week to discuss the conditions or comments by Mapp.
The Esmonds were poisoned March 18 at their $800-a-night rental villa at the Sirenusa resort overlooking Cruz Bay when a Terminix work sprayed methyl bromide in the condo below theirs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials said. The family fell ill two days later.
Mapp said Sean Esmond, who was in the 11th grade, is paralyzed from the neck down. He is conscious and alert but has no control of the movement of his limbs or body, Mapp said.
Ryan Esmond, who was in the ninth grade, remains "in and out of a coma," Mapp said, with no sensation in his limbs and no ability to control or move his body.
"For all intents and purposes, the doctors do not expect any significant recovery from their present condition," Mapp said.
The sons are students and lacrosse players at Tatnall, a private school in Greenville. Their mother, Dr. Theresa Devine, a 48-year-old dentist who practices in Broomall, Pennsylvania, is recovering better than her husband and sons, Mapp said.
Mapp's public statements Tuesday were the most detailed updates on the Esmonds' condition since they were stricken 3 1/2 months ago on the island of St. John. Their plight has drawn extensive media coverage, including segments on CNN. Local and federal environmental and criminal authorities are investigating, but no charges have been filed.
The pesticide is an odorless fumigant that can can be fatal or cause serious central nervous system and respiratory system damage, according to the EPA. Because of the chemical's "acute toxicity," methyl bromide is banned indoors and permitted only for limited agricultural uses by trained applicators, the EPA said.
The pesticide was applied inside units at the Sirenusa resort "to deal with indoor bugs," said Judith Enck, administrator for EPA's Region 2 that includes the Virgin Islands, in March.
After the poisoning, local officials issued "stop use" orders to three Virgin Islands companies that prohibited them from using any methyl bromide they have, and suspended the commercial pesticide applicator certification for Jose Rivera, the general manager for the local Terminix business, the Daily News reported.
"The poison used by Terminix is a toxin to the neuro systems, and it has affected this family horribly," Mapp said.
Peter Tosches, senior vice president for Terminix, has said the the company was conducting an internal investigation and cooperating with investigators.
The Esmonds had arrived at the luxury resort on St. John, where other Delaware families were also vacationing, on March 14 for an eight-night stay. But on March 20, they began having seizures, Maron said in early April.
The chemicals "bio-accumulated and metabolized until it became an acute poisoning." The family "began having seizures in the middle of the night and their lungs stopped working. They all had to be intubated."
The family was treated briefly at a a Virgin Islands hospital, then airlifted to the United States for further hospitalization. Steve Esmond was at Christiana Hospital but has been discharged. His children were hospitalized in Philadelphia.
Mapp also said Tuesday that Terminix International will be charged criminally, but the U.S. Attorney's Office would not comment on the governor's report, the Daily News reported.
"The government of the Virgin Islands will seek full and unfettered recompense for its expenditures dealing with this issue," Mapp said Tuesday.
"What Terminix International did is not a simple mistake. It's clearly an act to advance its profit motives by using substances that it knew, or should have known, were banned some 30 years ago."
