'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
'A step forward': New screening criteria for sperm donors takes effect
Canadians looking to grow their families with the assistance of sperm or egg donations should soon have more options for donors as the federal health agency does away with longstanding restrictions criticized as discriminatory.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
'Summer of discontent': Federal unions vow to fight new 3-day a week office mandate
Federal unions are launching legal challenges and encouraging public sector workers to file "tens of thousands" of grievances over the new mandate requiring federal workers to return to the office at least three days a week in the fall.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Watch fighter jet pilots pummel fake enemy ship off coast of Philippines
The United States and Philippines held annual joint-training drills just off the Southeast Asian nation’s western coast on Wednesday. Military forces sunk a 'mock' enemy warship – the BRP Lake Caliraya, which was a decommissioned tanker made in China.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his head more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
'Ozempic babies': Reports of surprise pregnancies raise new questions about weight loss drugs
Numerous women have shared stories of 'Ozempic babies' on social media. But the joy some experience in discovering pregnancies may come with anxiety about the unknowns.
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs to start for Canucks in Game 1 vs. Oilers
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs will start in net for the Canucks as Vancouver kicks off a second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night.