Ailing miner offers body for study
ANOTHER AILING former worker from a mine in Phichit province has asked that his body be posthumously examined for medical research in the hope his case will save others from serious health impacts blamed on the mine.
Wuttipong Fangsanoh, 52, is now receiving treatment at the Phichit Hospital for serious muscular weakness. Due to the pain all over his body, he has difficulty eating and speaking.
Wuttipong worked for a gold mine operated by Akara Resources between 2003 and 2006. He needed to quit his job because his muscles became weak and he suspected his health problems could have developed from heavy-metal contamination.
“I had to go down deep in the mine to explode the rock. Some dust particles of heavy metals may have got into my body,” he said.
Wuttipong has expressed a desire that his body be donated to the Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS) following his death, so that its director-general Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan – the famous forensic expert – can examine it for medical-research purposes.
“Perhaps findings from the research will help others,” he said.
Wuttipong is the second former worker from the gold mine, located in the northern province, to ask for his body to be posthumously studied by Porntip.
The first was Somkid Thampavej.
Phichit Governor Surachai Khan-asa said yesterday a work panel tasked with investigating the gold mine’s impact had received an unofficial report from the CIFS that up to 70 per cent of local people had been contaminated by heavy metals.
“We are now waiting for the official report to arrive,” he said, “After that, we will explore possible solutions.”
The panel has representatives from Akara plus local people.
