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San Antonio Express-News
August 15, 2007 By Sig Christenson, Express-News Military Writer
Thirty-six days after falling into a coma, Paige Renee Villers woke up clinging to her dream — and it didn't matter that she was hooked up to a ventilator, too ill to talk.
"We had to read her lips," said Christina Henry, her aunt. "One of her very first questions was 'am I still in the Air Force?'"
Family and friends laid Villers, 19, of Norton, Ohio, to rest Tuesday in Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery. But questions about the Air Force's handling of her illness lingered — questions Lackland AFB officials have been reluctant to answer.
As Villers struggled to survive a case of mononucleosis that mushroomed into pneumonia this spring, Lackland AFB grappled with an outbreak of a virus that caused dozens of other airmen to become sick.
The base in mid-June revealed that 100 airmen had contracted an unusual strain of adenovirus dubbed "boot camp flu." It said 17 recruits had been hospitalized, with stays typically lasting a week.
But Air Force officials that month said there had not been a serious case since May 26 and never mentioned that one of the airmen struck by adenovirus type 14 had been in a lengthy, drug-induced coma, fighting for her life.
A base spokesman, Oscar Balladares, acknowledged the adenovirus outbreak June 11 after the San Antonio Express-News learned about it from a reader. The paper learned Monday night of Villers' death the same way — in an e-mail from someone familiar with the case.
Lackland and the Air Education and Training Command at Randolph AFB late Tuesday denied having withheld information about Villers' death. Officials with both commands issued identical statements on the matter, stating: "When information was requested, it was provided immediately."
Air Force policy requires that officials "respect and provide for the privacy of the families in the immediate aftermath" of their notification following a service member's death. Defense Department policy is to release the identities of troops perishing in war zones after their families are notified, generally 24 hours later.
It wasn't immediately clear if there is a different policy for deaths in the United States or at overseas bases not in war zones, but Lackland reported Villers' death one week after it occurred.
Lackland's practice had been to report deaths soon after they occurred, Balladares said, but Villers' family "requested information regarding her death be low-key."
That account was confirmed by Henry, 40, of Barberton, Ohio. Balladares provided information about the case, reading from a brief statement that had not been released previously.
AETC, in the statement it released Tuesday, said it "has no qualms about respecting the wishes of grieving parents."
At least 12 recruits have died on the base since 1986 — the last in 2002.
The Air Force revealed Tuesday that 468 trainees had been placed on "bed rest" since March 1, and that 25 have been diagnosed with adenovirus 14. Eighteen recruits as of Tuesday remained on bed rest, Balladares said.
Beneath the base's unprecedented secrecy is Villers' fight to graduate from basic training and survive her ordeal.
Henry said Villers emerged from the lengthy drug-induced coma after being hospitalized May 16. She had fallen ill with mononucleosis when exposed to adenovirus.
After regaining consciousness, Villers' condition improved. Two days after graduating from basic training in a wheelchair and still on a ventilator, something went wrong.
"We thought she was going to make a full and complete recovery. She had been in complete renal failure and her kidneys were coming back," Henry said.
But on Sunday, "she had a seizure and she never woke up after that."
Mononucleosis, an infection of the lymphoid tissues, causes patients to suffer fever, sore throat and general viral symptoms. Victims tend to be adolescents, said Dr. Randy Frost, Bexar County chief medical examiner. Another expert, Dr. George Crawford, chief of the University of Texas Health Science Center's infectious disease division, said people of Villers' age are especially at risk for contracting mono, which can run several weeks but isn't often fatal.
Villers' complication was adenovirus. Passed on like the flu, it's contracted the same way — by coming in contact near other people or sharing saliva, said Roger Sanchez, an epidemiologist with the Metropolitan Health District.
Staff Writer Scott Huddleston contributed to this report.
August 15, 2007 By Sig Christenson, Express-News Military Writer
Thirty-six days after falling into a coma, Paige Renee Villers woke up clinging to her dream — and it didn't matter that she was hooked up to a ventilator, too ill to talk.
"We had to read her lips," said Christina Henry, her aunt. "One of her very first questions was 'am I still in the Air Force?'"
Family and friends laid Villers, 19, of Norton, Ohio, to rest Tuesday in Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery. But questions about the Air Force's handling of her illness lingered — questions Lackland AFB officials have been reluctant to answer.
As Villers struggled to survive a case of mononucleosis that mushroomed into pneumonia this spring, Lackland AFB grappled with an outbreak of a virus that caused dozens of other airmen to become sick.
The base in mid-June revealed that 100 airmen had contracted an unusual strain of adenovirus dubbed "boot camp flu." It said 17 recruits had been hospitalized, with stays typically lasting a week.
But Air Force officials that month said there had not been a serious case since May 26 and never mentioned that one of the airmen struck by adenovirus type 14 had been in a lengthy, drug-induced coma, fighting for her life.
A base spokesman, Oscar Balladares, acknowledged the adenovirus outbreak June 11 after the San Antonio Express-News learned about it from a reader. The paper learned Monday night of Villers' death the same way — in an e-mail from someone familiar with the case.
Lackland and the Air Education and Training Command at Randolph AFB late Tuesday denied having withheld information about Villers' death. Officials with both commands issued identical statements on the matter, stating: "When information was requested, it was provided immediately."
Air Force policy requires that officials "respect and provide for the privacy of the families in the immediate aftermath" of their notification following a service member's death. Defense Department policy is to release the identities of troops perishing in war zones after their families are notified, generally 24 hours later.
It wasn't immediately clear if there is a different policy for deaths in the United States or at overseas bases not in war zones, but Lackland reported Villers' death one week after it occurred.
Lackland's practice had been to report deaths soon after they occurred, Balladares said, but Villers' family "requested information regarding her death be low-key."
That account was confirmed by Henry, 40, of Barberton, Ohio. Balladares provided information about the case, reading from a brief statement that had not been released previously.
AETC, in the statement it released Tuesday, said it "has no qualms about respecting the wishes of grieving parents."
At least 12 recruits have died on the base since 1986 — the last in 2002.
The Air Force revealed Tuesday that 468 trainees had been placed on "bed rest" since March 1, and that 25 have been diagnosed with adenovirus 14. Eighteen recruits as of Tuesday remained on bed rest, Balladares said.
Beneath the base's unprecedented secrecy is Villers' fight to graduate from basic training and survive her ordeal.
Henry said Villers emerged from the lengthy drug-induced coma after being hospitalized May 16. She had fallen ill with mononucleosis when exposed to adenovirus.
After regaining consciousness, Villers' condition improved. Two days after graduating from basic training in a wheelchair and still on a ventilator, something went wrong.
"We thought she was going to make a full and complete recovery. She had been in complete renal failure and her kidneys were coming back," Henry said.
But on Sunday, "she had a seizure and she never woke up after that."
Mononucleosis, an infection of the lymphoid tissues, causes patients to suffer fever, sore throat and general viral symptoms. Victims tend to be adolescents, said Dr. Randy Frost, Bexar County chief medical examiner. Another expert, Dr. George Crawford, chief of the University of Texas Health Science Center's infectious disease division, said people of Villers' age are especially at risk for contracting mono, which can run several weeks but isn't often fatal.
Villers' complication was adenovirus. Passed on like the flu, it's contracted the same way — by coming in contact near other people or sharing saliva, said Roger Sanchez, an epidemiologist with the Metropolitan Health District.
Staff Writer Scott Huddleston contributed to this report.