The laugh that shook the Earth.
Renée and I went home from court that sunny spring day in May with our hearts full of joy and relief. The battle was over, or so we thought, and we could see nothing but clear sailing ahead. Once again we were naive in our understanding of dealing with the bureaucracy of the United States Department of Justice.
I am not a lawyer, but from my experience in dealing with the legal system, I would have to assume, that on their first day at Law School in ‘How to be a Lawyer 101’ or something, the very first principle covered must be, ‘how to delay and obstruct.’
Much to our amazement, even though the Judge ruled that day from the bench, and gave them 90 days to settle our claim, the process had dragged on for nearly a year after that point, with practically no end in site.
Determined to Win.
Finally, in May 1992, at our wits end, we decided to ‘go on the warpath’... so to speak. We jumped into the battle to fight for Jessica, one more time. This time I was determined to seek complete and absolute victory.
I turned to Idaho Senator Larry Craig for help. I sat down and wrote him a long letter detailing our frustrations and the run arounds on top of run arounds we were wading through. I mailed it via registered mail to his office in Boise and waited.
A week went by and nothing. No phone calls, no letters. And so, I called his administrative assistant, to seek an answer.
Moving Heaven & Earth.
Another small miracle happened that day. When the Senator’s Assistant finally answered my call… he was holding my letter in his hands, when he answered the phone!
“Yes. He was on it,” he said, “and he would get to the bottom of it if he had to move heaven and earth.”
I had to smile at that comment, but later it got even better.
Larry Craig’s assistant called back later and said he and Senator Craig “Had rattled some cages in Washington D.C.”…as he put it. He did happen to mention to me the name of the actuarial firm and the representative working on our case. Just a few names, nothing else, but as it turned out, an invaluable bit of information. I waited a few days, and hearing nothing further, I gritted my teeth and determined yet again, to see it through to the end.
I decided to take matters into my own hands and go direct to the source.
Armed with the name of the company and the person assigned to our case, I started making calls. First, I had to assume that a company large enough to do such work for the government would have offices in the financial hubs of the country. Places like Boston, New York, Baltimore, etc. It was a guessing game.
“What city please?” asked the operator. I hesitated. Hmmm… taking a stab in the dark, I said, “Baltimore,” and then the name of the actuarial company… bingo! The phone was ringing and the receptionist answered, “Good Morning, this is Structured Financial Services. How may I help you?” I held my breath, “Yes, may I speak with Robert Edwards please?” I said, smiling at the thought. There was that name again.
Would he be my next ‘bright fame’. This was starting to get a little amazing, but I didn’t know the half of it.
“I am sorry,” she began, ‘Oops, I must have blown it,’ I thought, “…but Robert is working in Alexandria, Virginia for a few days. Would you like that number?”
Would I? Would I? I could hardly stand it!
“Why, yes if it’s no trouble,” I said, trying to sound calm and professional and yet contain my excitement. But wait, it gets much better!
The End of the Road?
I sat there looking at the number written in front of me. I was thinking, ‘Is this the end of the road, or just another beginning?’ So far everything was falling into place so… I decided to press on and began to dial.
“Rinnnng… rinnnng!” I let it ring over and over. No answer. I started to hang up and then I heard a voice, “Hello… hello?” the voice said, sounding slightly out of breath. “This is Robert!”
“Mr. Edwards, this is Jim Walker from Boise, Idaho and I am calling on behalf of my little girl Jessica.” I took a deep breath and forged ahead. “Jessica was injured by her DPT vaccinations and is entitled to compensation under the Vaccine Injury Act. It has been almost a year and we have not been compensated,” I said rather doggedly, “…and I am told that you are the person that is holding things up!” On the other end of the line, there was a dead silence.
After what seemed like an eternity, he began to speak.
“Mr. Walker, I apologize to you and your little girl. I am not trying to dodge my responsibility, but I have been trying for six months to get the information from the Justice Department representatives to work on your case …” Hmmm, I thought, that sounded familiar, “…but, things are moving now,” he said.
“Let me explain!”
An Amazing Chain of Events.
I listened with great interest to his description of the recent amazing sequence of events. Apparently Senator Craig had called the Chief of the Justice Department, to expedite our case. When Craig was told that the Chief was leaving on vacation in the morning and had gone home early that day, the good Senator called him at home that evening!
We don’t know the content of their conversation, but it was sufficient to motivate the Chief to change his plans and go into his office the next day and start the wheels turning. You could say he was inspired.
Magically, the input that Robert Edwards needed was available and had a major rush stamped on it. Robert had been in Richmond that day testifying before a Grand Jury, as an expert witness under subpoena. They went into the Grand Jury room, removed him, handed him the files, and gave him his marching orders, “Finish up and forward the Jessica E. Walker, Vaccine Injury case, now, without delay. Expedite it!”
Robert chuckled as he related this to me. “Apparently someone had lit a major fire under their tail feathers!”
We both laughed at that thought.
Robert had left as soon as the Grand Jury adjourned for the day, and driven back to Alexandria. He worked until 4 a.m. finishing Jessica’s case. He had then taken it down to the express mail office and mailed it, drove home, showered and shaved, grabbed a quick bite to eat and rushed back to his office. As he entered, the phone was ringing off of the hook, and he had rushed to answer it gasping and out of breath……and it was ME calling!
Another big coincidence or a small miracle.
We both had a good laugh. In spite of the conditions that we met under, I liked him. He was honest and sincere and he offered to send me copies of everything, which he did and they have been very helpful even up to this very day.
Robert was a non-government private contractor, and after a short discussion about the perils and frustrations of working with a bureaucracy, we said our goodbyes on cordial terms.
I thought, whew! Now things will be okay. I was wrong again!
The Final Round.
Weeks went by, and although I did get the materials Robert Edwards had promised me, nothing else happened. I tracked our case down again in the bowels of the bureaucracy, finally speaking with the head of the department responsible for the the most recent delay.
The conversation went something like this.
I said, “Look, I don’t want to come to Washington D.C. and hold a news conference in your lobby, but, I WILL if you don’t expedite this today!”
Gritting my teeth, I went on, “Today is Wednesday and you have until Friday, or I promise you, I WILL be coming to Washington to speak with you or your boss or your boss’s boss! Have you got that?”
It worked! On Friday, everything was done. It had been a long and exhausting grind, but, the log jam was broken.
Next Week: “The Laugh that Shook the Earth, Part 2”
I will continue to share the answers to the question “What happened to Jessica?” every Monday in the weeks ahead. When I have received sufficient feedback and questions, I will add a Thursday episode, as needed, to this blog, focused on answering your questions and comments.
Thanks for your interest.
Jim, Renée & Jessica
