'I think they’re waiting for him to die': Veteran with vision loss denied benefits
A veteran from Halifax, who served for almost 30 years in the Canadian Forces, says the country isn’t returning the favour.
Now legally blind, Stanley Wight has been denied benefits to help, despite being able to prove his sight started to deteriorate while he was still in uniform.
Stanley Wight served Canada for nearly 30 years, working as a radar technician on aircraft for the Canadian Armed Forces.
Now at 85, he blames that work for his failing vision.
“Any radar that was working, I used to get in close enough to check that it was working properly. It would be radiation, in fact, I actually have, in my left-eye, a hole that has been burnt there,” says Wight.
According to documents that Wight’s son Stephen has gathered through access to information, three doctors diagnosed his father with early onset macular degeneration back in the 1980s, when he was still an active member of the Canadian Forces.
Despite that, the family says veteran affairs has denied their appeal for help, time and time again.
“I’m very upset with the military because I was diagnosed in the service with it, and I have three medical documents to prove it, but I don’t think when they went to the board that they even looked at them,” says Stanley Wight.
Stephen Wight, also a retired member, thought that finding one of those doctors that originally diagnosed Stanley might help.
“He responded ‘my diagnoses of early macular degeneration stands’,” recalls Wight.
Wight says they will try again with that new evidence, but he feels other documents have been overlooked, and the family has lost faith in the veterans' appeal process.
“I think they’re waiting for him to die so they don’t have to worry about this case,” says Stephen Wight.
In a statement to CTV News, Veterans Affairs Canada says they can’t comment on individual cases, but did confirm that a member must have a permanent disability and the disability must be related to their service in order to be eligible for disability benefits.
They also said that if an applicant has exhausted their appeal options, they have the right to apply to the Federal Court of Canada for a judicial review.
The Wight family says the benefit would help provide Stanley the care he needs to stay at home, and they are hoping the country that he served won’t forget about him now.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
NEW Iconic Canadian song turns 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Prince Harry, Meghan arrive in Nigeria to champion the Invictus Games and meet with wounded soldiers
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, arrived in Nigeria on Friday to champion the Invictus Games, which he founded to aid the rehabilitation of wounded and sick servicemembers and veterans, among them Nigerian soldiers fighting a 14-year war against Islamic extremists.
Countries struggle to draft 'pandemic treaty' to avoid mistakes made during COVID
After the coronavirus pandemic triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions, leaders at the World Health Organization and worldwide vowed to do better in the future. Years later, countries are still struggling to come up with an agreed-upon plan for how the world might respond to the next global outbreak.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Broadcaster and commentator Rex Murphy dead at 77: National Post
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.