Attempt to Provide Medical Care to Bent Mountain Treesitters Blocked

Today I went to Bent Mountain in Roanoke County with my medical colleague Greg Gelburd to try to provide medical care to Red and Terry Minor, tree sitters who are protesting the Mountain Valley Pipeline. We had high hopes of being able to give her a basic check up and to assess her physical and mental well being. After all, she has been in a confined treehouse for 30 days, some of which has been without food and water from her support team.

We asked law enforcement on the ground if we could go up to her treehouse to do this – they deferred to other law enforcement who were not present. We later sought out those police officers in the parking lot to ask and they deferred – to their public information officer. Not surprisingly, that person did not answer the phone when we called. We did the best job we could taking a history from her by shouting across the police tape up to her tree, but sadly we were not allowed to cross over to check her face to face. When we asked if we could send medical supplies up to her they wouldn’t even let us send up skin creams and vitamins.

To see this woman putting her life at risk not able to even access a basic physical exam – to be denied this basic medical care – was horrifying. I won’t soon forget Red’s parting words to us “My health is just fine, I just have a broken heart.” Looking out on her pristine mountain and bubbling clear stream, with trees cut down all around her, my heart broke also.