FW: THE DEATH OF MENARD PRISONER WILLIAM L. BUHRMESTER B67426

[jsmom]

I have read this story many times and don't even know what else to say that hasn't already been said. How terribly sad! My deepest sympathy to William's family and friends.

I also will be making that phone call on Tuesday.

[Felicity]

I am DEFINITELY going to be calling Gov. Quinn on Tue, & I'll be asking my close friends to call, as well. I'll also be writing the letters, as recommended by IPT members in this thread. I'm so angry... so filled w/despair over the grief of William's family & friends... fear for my LOs in Menard & Pontiac... fear for ALL inmates in ILDOC... throughout the whole nation. I am praying we can make a difference.

[tweetyj]

 Where can I read this story? I will also do my part. My son was at menard for over a year.

[mamacita1]

Hello Members:
 
 
From time to time we ask you to participate in phone calling or emailing campaigns for important causes. 
 
Again IPT is asking it's members to contact our Governor and express your outrage at the senseless death of an Illinois inmate.
 
Last week William Buhrmester, 36, died in Menard Correctional Center.  He had been sent to SEG in Menard from Robinson CC, over a year ago.  While at Robinson he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.  He was gravely ill and had begun receiving medical treatment at Robinson before he was shipped to Menard for a minor 'contraband' violation...a restricted magazine he picked up in the day room...
 
After going to Menard he no longer received the proper medication or medical treatment that was prescribed for him following the diagnosis while at Robinson.  His family kept in constant contact with IDOC in attempts to get him the proper treatment that he required.  His health failed rapidly and no amount of pleading with medical staff obtained William his proper medications.
 
As William wasted away his family was helpless in getting any response from Menard officials.
His death is an outrage and it's not uncommon of other inmate deaths within IDOC.  Any serious illness within an IDOC facility can be a death sentence due to the lack of care, poor medical judgement by staff, and inadequate response to serious emergencies.
 
There was no reason for William to die.  He had been responding to treatment while at Robinson.  Instead he was moved to Menard, perhaps in an administrative attempt to curtail his costly medications, put into SEG and left to die a horribly painful death.  His father is heartsick.  His family is asking for help to bring William's death to the attention of the public, in the hopes another inmate won't suffer due to the incompetence and greed of the medical contractors that are providing their substandard services to our Illinois inmates.
His father's chronicle of his illness can be read on Illinois Prison Talk:  http://www.illinoisprisontalk.com/index.php/topic,15554.msg119470/topicseen.html#msg119470
 
 
Illinois Prison Talk members are being asked to call Govern Quinn's office and voice your outrage at William's death and the overall barbaric medical treatment of Illinois inmates. 
 
We will begin making phone calls Tuesday morning, April 14, at 9 a.m.  Please call the governor's office at: 217-782-0244   Encourage the governor's office to investigate William's death and the doctor's and prison staff that were negligent.  Inquire why a prison doctor would embalm a body before an autopsy could be performed.  And especially tell the Governor's office you intend to take this to the media next. 
 
If each of you takes a few minutes to voice your opinion it could make a difference in bringing this grave medical situation to the Governor's attention.  William was a healthy young man when he entered the IDOC.  His medical problem could happen to anyone of your loved ones.  Will yours be treated the same? 
 
IPT members have made a huge difference regarding prison issues when we've acted collectively.  Please help make a difference and help William's grieving father to bring his son's death to Quinn's attention.
Remember, Tuesday, April 14th starting at 9 a.m.  Make your call/s. 
 
Regards,
 
Your IPT Team

[ielene]

  I have wrote the numbers and am going to make a special trip to the phone just to make this call. I will probably only be able to make one call. I have already wrote down what I want to say, so I can make that call count. To all the family and friends, I can't even imagine what you are going through, but I want you to know you have been in my prayers.

[Sister]

I received the e-mail as well, and I will be making phone calls on Tuesday.  

My heart absolutely breaks for William's loved ones.    This is just absolutely tragic, senseless, unbelievable.   I do not understand how human beings can treat other human beings this way.

My deepest and sincerest sympathy and condolences go out to William's loved ones.  

[griz bear]

 
I will be sending this email to Senator Dick Durbin's office; I sent an email to him about my son's lacking treatment and this week I got a letter back that they were opening a congressional inquiry into my son's case and this needs to be added to there list; and totally emphasizes the lack of care that IDOC takes in the health of the inmates and it is total negligence and this family needs to contact an attorney and the Stat of Illinois would be in alot more debt.

[KSwife]

       My heart is truly breaking for Williams family. I couldn't even speak the first time I read the post, I was just so sad. Williams family is in my prayers and I am truly sorry for such a tragedy. My Husband was in seg during this same time, they may have crossed paths. He was in seg for something he didn't do. We wrote many letters and made many calls asking for a thorough investigation and surprise he was released from seg. I know that is unheard of, but sometimes when we make enough waves they have no choice but to react accordingly. I will be writing letters and making phone calls for William and his family. Something has to be done about IDOC and every other prison system in the United States. California is going through federal courts now based on several things, but medical care is definitely on the list. I wonder if sending this story to other states as well would be helpful, just a thought.

Another thought: Has anyone looked into finding a HIPPA form that we can download and send to our LO's to request be put in their files, even if they don't currently have a condition? It is always important to be prepared. I'm not sure if it would really of made a difference, Menard is horrible and may not have cooperated with Williams Dad anyway. Does anyone have the form?

I am sincerely sorry for this families loss. God Bless them and all of us! 

[Dazzler]

I think we will start a thread early Tuesday morning and check in when we've made our calls...and maybe note their response.  I remember calling the Director's office last time...they were getting very aggravated about 2 p.m.  I finally asked the secretary if they'd gotten a lot of calls...LOL....she hesitated and busted out laughing....she finally said, Oh, yes.....I said, well, it's about over and she said THANK YOU.  

[RobinE]

This story is so heartbreaking and SCARY!  Of course it is the biggest fear of anyone who has a loved one in prison.  If you ask me, these people repsonsible for William's death are nothing short of murderers themselves!  - and should be charged as such!!  Yes, for sure i'll be on the phone April 14th!  This definetly needs media exposure... "Oprah" would be good too!!

[irish45mj]

I'll make the calls on Tuesday, but it might be outside of normal work hours (strike duty a possibility) and I'll send letters, as well.

Sincerest sympathies to Williams' family and friends.  This was a travesty, and should never have happened.

[unbreakable]

irish45mj, do you work for at&t? My mom does and is anticipating strike duty. Just wondering.

[irish45mj]

Yes,  have worked for AT&T for almost 24 years.  So, if I have to be working elsewhere, 6am - 6pm, I may not be able to call the Gov's office during normal business hours.  I may be able to do it when we break for lunch, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to find someplace private to talk, since I haven't seen the warehouse in many many years.  I guess there's always my car - even though we can't leave the premises, they can't stop me from sitting in my car in the parking lot! 

[scudder5]

I am sure everyone who has read this post has the same question....why?  How could anyone be so cruel and heartless to watch someone suffer in this way knowing they are completely unable to seek hellp for themselves....I will pray for your family so that you may find peace in this crisis.

[xdjkittiex]

Hello,

I'm Kellie Buhrmester - the sister of Billy Buhrmester.

You have no idea how much my dad and I appreciate everyone's support on this.  We are trying to keep this going because so far most of these cases through IDOC seem to hit hard for about 2 weeks and then everything dies down.  We don't want this to die down - we want this to keep going, hit the news (I've called 5 or 6 local stations so far (called on the 8th) - stations out of our jurisdiction so far have refused to take the story.)  I haven't heard back from them just yet so I plan on calling them back today.
We're hoping that with enough support, something will be done to change the way things are handled in the prison systems - not just Illinois but all around the US.

Dad has sent a certified letter to Pat Quinn and so have several people in our town.  We're from Hoopeston, IL.  Our town has around 6,000 people in it and around 500 - 600 people came to my brother's visitation.

Dad has sent several letters out to several areas including trying to get the doctors in the prison's licenses checked.

If anyone knows of any more media stations that would be willing to take the story, please let me know - my email is SugarDreams13@hotmail.com

This neglect and abuse in prisons has got to stop.

[Dazzler]

Thanks for joining the forum Kellie.  We don't always have the opportunity to talk directly with those that we've rallied for in the past. 

You can read all the support that your family has gotten from our IPT family.  Tragedies like this affect all of us here.  It's so close to home for most of us.  It's always a great fear for the loved ones of inmates, that their inmate will need emergency medical care and not receive it.  There are enough other obstacles to overcome while inside.....inmates shouldn't have to fear for their mental and medical safety. 

I hope that IPT'ers will all make their phone calls on Tuesday and try to make a difference in your brother's name.  We've complained about the medical problems in the past...Blagojevich and Walker just wouldn't respond. 

Quinn pardoned eleven people yesterday, vowing to clear the backlog of over a thousand clemency petitions on the governor's desk...that's a good start in reforming. 

Hopefully our new governor will understand the seriousness of this situation.  It's all on his head.

[HisGirl]

Yes, Kellie, as Dazzler has stated; this tragedy hits so close to home for all of us. I have gone through a situation in the past regarding medical negligence in the prison system. While it does not compare to this great tragedy, I know what it is like to have your loved one injured, in need of medical care, and not receiving it.

We all need to fight to see something done about this most heinous act. Not only because it is great injustice, but because it does hit so close to home. It is a fear that those of of who have loved ones on the inside live with. I am speaking of inadequate medical care. It is a sad thing to realize that most household pets will get better medical care than our loved ones.

This is an especially serious matter to those of us who have loved serving sentences of 10 years and greater since their risk of a serious illness is even greater due to lack of nutrition and other factors.

I do not intend to let this go. I feel we must take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and get something done about this very serious problem. When something is accomplished, I hope the resolution can give your family some peace about what happened to your brother. Again, I am so sorry.

[Doll4BabyBoy]

My fiance has told me alot of horror stories about how Menard will just
let you die before they try to help you. I think everyone involved in this case
needs to go in front of a Illinois judge and explain to him why they did
not give this young man the medication he needed to stay alive.
Then they all need to be charged with Murder. It would all be the same
if one of us was taking care of someone and negelected to give them the
medicines they needed to keep them healthy. The judge would sentence us
to LWOP! Now its time for these people to pay for taking a life that was so
uncalled for by not giving him treatment~!  Il make the calls as well on Tuesday....

[sosad00]

I received the email and want to let you know I have forwarded it to everyone one in my email list and have received many many responses from friends who too have said they will call on Tuesday.  A few months ago I would have still felt bad for the family however, having a LO in the IDOC makes you take a closer look at the picture and say I have to do something. 

[Jims]

J has also told me stories of the medical neglect, the medical abuse, and the coverups that routinely take place at Menard. Fortunately, there are a few... a very few... officers with integrity who talk to him, knowing he'll talk to me, about what they know goes on. This is why I have been screaming my head off about how Menard gets ignored compared to Stateville and any of the prisons that are in closer proximity to Chicago. They're down in the boonies and think no one knows what goes on, and that's true for the most part. They think they can get away with murder. Actually, they have gotten away with murder. This isn't the first time, and it won't be the last if it doesn't get stopped.

Kellie, my heart goes out to you. I think you should contact Gary Marx at the Chicago Tribune as well as the editor at the Southern Illinoisian. You should also contact Dusty Rhodes at the online Springfield paper - forget what it's called. And perhaps Terry Bibo at the Journal Star in Peoria.

And because prison reform has made national news recently, you could also contact CNN and MSNBC. Forget Fox Noise. 60 Minutes, too. It can't hurt and it just might do some good.