News10NBC's Berkeley Brean appears on the "Anderson" show
Posted at: 02/07/2012 4:55 PM | Updated at: 02/10/2012 6:33 PM
Berkeley Brean joined Anderson Cooper for a special show on the mystery illness in LeRoy. The show was taped Wednesday morning in New York City.
The show aired on News10NBC today at 2:00pm.
None of the teenagers from LeRoy came to be on the show, but Marge Fitzsimmons was there. She’s the 36-year-old woman in LeRoy with the same symptoms. It was an incredibly emotional interview between Anderson and her.
Berkeley asked Anderson why he decided to do a show on the mystery illness in the first place.
Berkeley: “That was quite a show you had today on LeRoy.”
Anderson: “Yeah, it was. It’s a story I’ve been following for weeks and we actually wanted to meet the girls and see them here. And also see the impact it’s had on their families and talk to doctors about maybe what’s going on.”
In today’s taping of the show, Anderson had medical experts who seemed to think the conversion disorder diagnosis is legitimate. Marge Fitzsimmons believes in it.
But most, if not all of the families of the affected teenagers in LeRoy do not. Some of them got a second opinion that says it’s connected to strep. A disease called Pandas. What Anderson wanted from Berkeley was a sense of what the community is going through and that’s what he asked Berkeley during the second segment of the show.
Anderson: “What kind of impact has this had on the folks in the area?”
Berkeley: “Well, there’s just confusion through the whole town and I think that confusion is leading to fear. We’re hearing from store owners in town, one lady runs a bakery and says that people aren’t coming to her bakery to buy her goods anymore because they don’t want to eat anything that’s been made with water from LeRoy. So that's fear. Is it rational fear? We don't know but the perception is the reality and I think the confusion that not only the families have and even the parents of children that don't have these symptoms, it's just causing this kind of behavior in that town.”
Anderson: “Yeah, Berkeley I appreciate it.”
Berkeley Brean arrived early for the taping of the show. Before the show, he got prepped by the producers and sat in the chair for makeup.
Berkeley was seated in the audience. On the stage was Fitzsimmons. Anderson interviewed the doctors and Erin Brockovich. In the second segment, it was Berkeley and Fitzsimmons turn.
When it was over, Berkeley had a chance to ask Anderson questions.
Berkeley: “What do you hope your audience gets from this?”
Anderson: “I think just an understanding of what these girls are facing and what the impact is on their families. You can’t help, but sympathize with the impact this is having on these kids’ families and the fear of not knowing what’s going on.”
The doctors Anderson had on the show seem to think conversion disorder is the right diagnosis. Marge Fitzsimmons says that’s what she’s going to believe until someone tells her it’s something different.
For more Rochester, N.Y. news go to our website www.whec.com.
|
|
 |
Print Story |