Veteran with cancer fights for benefits

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Jose Belliard of Cumberland is a dad to three young children and appears to be the picture of health. But this 37-year-old Gulf War veteran is in the fight of his life, with a rare terminal cancer. It's a disease he believes is a result of his service to the country.

"My life expectancy at this point is 16 months, 24 months or so.  I'm hoping to outlast that," Belliard said.

When President George H.W. Bush gave the order to attack Iraq, Belliard was on the front lines as a marine in the march to Baghdad. He was just 19-years-old. His orders were to capture Saddam Hussein's troops and spread a chemical called lindane on the prisoners to kill lice and disease.

"Given the speed and the nature of things happening, we just put our hands in it, pretty much put it on them," Belliard said.

• Watch an extended interview with Jose Belliard on his experiences

Belliard said he rubbed the powder on hundreds of prisoners during his tour of duty. He said he started feeling sick almost immediately. But when he returned home six months later, things got even worse. Belliard said he developed an inflamed prostate and tonsils, shingles, and even had episodes where he would lose consciousness.

"There were medical conditions that kept on occurring. I also suffered a blackout while driving with my wife at the time," he said.

Belliard made repeated trips to the Department of Veterans Affairs , but said a doctor told him his symptoms were from post traumatic stress syndrome.

"He just said to me, 'young man, whatever your situation or condition, you are going to have to live with it.' So that is what I did, I learned how to live with it," Belliard said.

Until February of 2008, when Belliard had trouble breathing and got a chest x-ray. It showed a lump near his lungs and heart that turned out to be non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

"I started thinking about my kids. When I was 19-years-old in combat, I did not have that to think about," Belliard said.

Because the cancer is so aggressive, doctors expect Belliard to live only a few more years.

"Once those conversations start occurring, it's different. You are aware it is not going to be cured," he said.

Eyewitness News uncovered VA documents that show it's "reasonably probable" that lindane caused fatal cancer in another Gulf War veteran. Nevertheless, the VA on several occasions denied that the chemical made Belliard sick, and said his cancer was not service related.

Alex DiPrato: "So spreading this stuff on these prisoners, how confident are you that this [caused] your condition right now?"

Jose Belliard: "100 percent."

Alex DiPrato: "No doubt?"

Jose Belliard: "No doubt in my mind."

Belliard and his wife have paid for two surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy treatments themselves, and they're now feeling the financial burden. But since Eyewitness News got involved last month, the VA agreed to take a second look at Belliard's case, and let him see military doctor.

"I'll be going to see an oncologist, or doctors at the VA hospital," Belliard said.

• Read the VA's statement on Belliard's case

Because of that new hearing, Belliard has since been granted 100 percent coverage for his cancer from the VA. That means after years of fighting, he knows his kids will have insurance and an education when he's no longer here.

"That's the reason why I've taken it so strongly, to do everything that I can because I want to do this while I'm still alive," he said.

The VA says Belliard's case is a complicated one, because his cancer is so rare. In a statement to Eyewitness News, it said:

"Based on the new evidence... service connection for cancer due to chemical exposure was granted. This was a full grant of the requested benefits."

That decision means Belliard will also get more than $50,000 in back-payments for his personal medical treatments.