The Reality of Dying in Prison
A story rarely exposed by media outlets

In the past ten years, there has been a large number of male prisoners inside the Indiana Department of Corrections dying from cancer. There has been others dying of heart attacks, and others from drug overdoses.

Since January 2003, when I arrived at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, I learned that when this prison was built in 1993, it was erected right above a deserted coal mine. The water, for a long time, was said to be highly concentrated with lead particles and water parasites. In the past nine years, prisoners have died from cancer of the liver. By the time it's diagnosed, it was too late to save their lives.

Other prisoners are being told that they have diabetes, having had it for six months to a year already. Being ill-treated or misdiagnosed, the health care services, like the prison food system here, have been privatized. We are being exploited to pre-pay $5 just to be seen by unsympathetic care administrators. They are prescribing us medications without have a clue of what is wrong. This subscription is yet another $5.

This water is so bad that you see all prison staff carrying bottled water. The water buildup leaves lime scales inside my cooking/coffee pot, to a point where I can barely get it out. I need a green scratch pad to remove it. I am not a rocket scientist, but I believe this water and exposure to it has to be because of that coal mine below the prison. These men are dying due to long-term consumption of the foul water.

The food is obviously prepared by this water. So there is no way to get away from it. Most of these men who died recently, I grew up in these prisons with over 26 years of incarceration. To see their health deteriorate before my eyes really has had an impact on my life. Because mainly, it shows how long I have been in prison. Separated from my loved ones, children, friends, family. Now it has me wondering if this will be my fate.

Having a strong physical exercise program and a study regimen to help maintain my sanity, coupled with writing short stories, connecting, and networking with empathetic free-world people. I pray Allah (God) to navigate my life through those unseen troubled waters.

Do you want to learn more about the SCU security housing unit? You may do. Go to Human Rights Watch website at hrw.org. Look for the report called Cold Storage. Download this report and share it with a friend.

Hope you enjoyed my thoughts.

May Allah Bless You,
Bro. Khalfani Malik Khaldun
Leonard McQuay A-1205 SCU
P.O. Box 1111
Carlisle, IN 47838