Exit
cally and monetarily, were what hit
the Wolniewiczs the hardest.
Catherine and David discovered
oil leaking under the floorboards of
their basement after a routine oil
replacement and cleaning of their
unit. To make sure their house was
habitable, the company came in
and doused their home in chemicals. The kids were ushered to their
aunt’s house, but David stayed behind to oversee the workers. One
month later, he was in the hospital
with chemical pneumonia — his
lungs had collapsed.
“I wasn’t sure he was going
to make it,” says Catherine, recalling with derision the workers
who assured David it was safe to
stay around the house while
they worked.
“I found out they weren’t telling
me the truth. I had air quality tests
done and they came back imminent
hazard for occupational [spaces],
and we were residential so that was
even worse,” she says.
David is now disabled with both
cognitive and nerve damage.
When their house was thoroughly emptied of the toxins, the
Wolniewiczs came back to a shell
of a home they used to know. All of
their belongings were gone.
“I had to throw away all their
GREATEST PERSON
OF THE WEEK
HUFFINGTON
10.21.12
toys and things like that,” Catherine says. “Everything had to
be dumped. Furniture, beds,
toys everything.”
HELPING ANGEL
When Robert Wolniewicz discovered what had happened to one
little girl in Indiana, he remembered his own loss and was inspired to help.
“Knowing, being in a position to
know what it’s like to be out of your
He’s lucky, he didn’t
lose his parents and he got
back to his home. But there are
so many people who don’t,
and he knows that.”
home, I think that that’s kind of
what inspired him,” his mom says.
“I mean he’s lucky, he didn’t lose
his parents and he got back to his
home. But there are so many people
that don’t, and he knows that.”
Catherine recalls the first thing
he said after the news report. “‘I
want to raise money for her because
she lost everything. I want to get
her a toy,’” he had said.
“In his mind,” says Catherine,
“he wanted to get her a toy because