Still waiting — one widow's story

My husband was Chief Gary Tilton and he died of a heart attack shortly after returning home from the scene of a traffic accident in October of 2004. We filed the claim for the Public Safety Officers benefits in January of 2005. To this date, I am still waiting for the claim to be processed.

Let me give you a little background. Approximately one half of the 100 firefighters who die in the line of duty each year die from a cardiac event. Because of this fact, the Hometown Heroes Act was passed and signed into law in December of 2003. The regulations were finally written and put into effect on September 11, 2006. Silly me, I thought the Department of Justice would then begin to process the claims. But, I was wrong. Well, maybe not totally wrong. They will tell you that they did begin the claim process at that point. But what they really began was a long road of delays and excuses. When this claim was filed I was told that it would take up to a year to process. I never dreamed that over two years after the claim was filed I would still be waiting for the claim to be processed. My claim has not been denied. I have not even gotten that far!!

My husband was a firefighter for 31 years and at the time of his death he was living his dream of being the chief of the Katy, Texas, Fire Department. The day of his death was a normal day spent at the fire station. That evening he was called out of church to a car accident at a very bad intersection in our area. While working the scene of the accident he began to have discomfort and had to sit down. He came home shortly after that. He was hot, sweaty, and tired. I really didn't think much about it. After all, that is the way he looked many times after being on a scene of a fire or accident. He went in to take a shower and collapsed in the shower and died. In an instant, my life was changed.

Support from firefighter family
There are no words to describe the support I have felt from the firefighter family. The National Fallen Firefighter Foundation is an unbelievable organization which is always there for us survivors. My husband used to talk about how he could go into any fire station across America and feel at home. I am so honored and proud that I can say that I understand what he meant. I know I could go anywhere and the firefighters would be there for me.

I wish I could say the same for my government. Somehow I just feel certain that those senators and representatives who sponsored the Hometown Heroes Act would proudly list this bill as one of their accomplishments. They would be more than happy to boast how they had given the firefighter families needed benefits. I doubt seriously that they would go on to tell how not one claim has been processed under this law and, to date, no firefighter family has received a penny of benefits under this law!

I can tell you the facts of my husband's death. I can tell you the facts about filing this claim. What I cannot tell you, because there is no way to truly convey my feelings, is the emotional pain that I go through in dealing with this situation. It is such an emotional drain just to pick up that phone to call that my calls have been limited. I have to be in the right frame of mind before I can even think about calling. Then when I do call, I really hope that no one answers and I can just leave a message. Every phone call is a very painful reminder that my husband is no longer here. Because I was told in the beginning that this claim would probably take a year, I did not begin keeping notes of my conversations with the Dept. of Justice until March of 2006.

On March 21, 2006, I made my first call to inquire about the status of my husband's claim. At that time I was told that the final regulations had not been written, but they hoped to have them by late Spring or early Summer.

Questions, but no answers
My next call was on 6-21-06 when I was told that claims were still not being processed and they were looking at August as the target date for the regulations to be written.

On 8-9-06 I was told that claims are still not being processed and they did not know when the regulations would be written.

On 10-2-06 I left a message requesting the status of the claim.

On 10-6-06 I was left a message telling me they had contacted Katy Fire Dept requesting information.

On 10-10-06 I left a message requesting status of the claim.

On 10-11-06 I received a call from the DOJ explaining the information they needed from the fire dept. along with 10 years of medical records.

On 10-23-06 I Fed Exed the fire dept. information along with about 20 years of medical records to the DOJ.

On 11-10-06 I left a message requesting status of the claim.

On 11-17-06 I received a call from the DOJ. The claim specialist stated that she had received the packet of information from me but that my husband's claim had not been sent for medical review.

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