Jeana Linton, a concerned mother, was told over and over again that while the water in Flint, Michigan is unsafe to drink, it is okay to bathe in. When she tried to wash her 1-year-old daughter in the water, though, her tiny body became covered in rashes and welts. Linton, unsure of what to do, brought her child to the local hospital where she was told “something is wrong.”
“My pipes are so rusted and nasty that I don’t give my dog water, let alone my baby.”
“When you get in the water, it welts you and it breaks you out in a rash. What am I supposed to do with my daughter?”
“Where’s my answers? Are they going to pay for my medical bills if my baby is sick?”
While relief is coming for the residents of Flint in the form of large donations of bottled water from across the nation, that water can only stretch so far. Women like Linton are left feeling hopelessly unsure of what is the best thing to do for their small children, and the government’s mistakes will continue to have an irreversible effect on children like hers for their entire lives.
