TOLEDO, Ohio — A Navy veteran has turned to Call 11 for Action for help after not getting the help she needed from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Kallie Morris, 44, told Call 11 for Action that the VA installed railings on the deck of her Toledo home in 2023.
The problem is that those brand-new railings were nailed to an already collapsing and unsafe deck.
According to Morris' mother and caretaker, Terri Jackson, the VA said it did not repair decks and that it would only address the railings.
"This is just ridiculous," Jackson said. "Why would you put this new stuff up on a porch that was rotting?"
Jackson, said the railings are of no help to Morris if she cannot step out onto the deck, which is unstable and slanted.
Morris is blind in one eye, suffered a stroke and has dementia. She and Jackson said the conditions arose about three years after Morris left the Navy in 2006 and doctors suspect they are a result of her work on radioactive bombs while she was stationed in California.
"They think what happened was one of them just leaked," Morris said.
Her family is concerned that Morris will hurt herself trying to walk across the deck, especially since she's partially blind.
Jackson said she called Call 11 for Action for one last hope that the VA would do the right thing for someone who's now disabled after serving her country.
"They aren't going to do anything," Jackson said. "I've had Kallie nine years and they really have done nothing."
Morris hopes to one day enjoy being outside like she used to, with the help of the VA who promised to keep her safe.
"I think with everything that happened, I don’t think I deserve that," Morris said. "I don’t think I deserve the way they’ve treated me."
Call 11 for Action left messages on Friday for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs representative in Ann Arbor who handled Morris' case but has not heard back as of this publication.