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Jed Boal ReportingMore Utah cops are convinced their work busting meth labs is now killing them. Hundreds of people gathered in Provo today to support a former narcotics officer who is battling the toughest enemy of his life.
An Eyewitness News investigation last year first uncovered the mysterious myriad of deadly illnesses afflicting more than 80 Utah drug officers who busted methamphetamine labs in the 90's. Prove police officers rallied to show support for one of their own who is fighting a killer cancer.
Trent Halladay, Former Provo Police Officer: "Burning throat, burning esophagus, burning eyes."
Those symptoms plagued Trent Halladay in the 90's when he hit more than 250 meth labs as a narcotics officer for the Provo Police Department. Halladay talked to Eyewitness News a month ago, before two recent strokes damaged his speech and vision.
He first felt sick last fall.
Trent Halladay, Former Provo Police Officer, March 30: "Things didn't seem right with my body. Blood test after blood test, everything came back normal. That was the weird thing."
In February, Halladay learned it was liver cancer. He's convinced exposure to chemicals in meth busts sickened him.
Trent Halladay: "I haven't had exposure to anything else."
He's 37 and has no family history of cancer. Doctors cannot conclusively link his cancer, or the deadly diseases of other cops, to meth chemicals.
Fellow officers, friends and family want people to know what Halladay and other drug officers have gone through.
Lt. Rich Ferguson, Provo Police Department: "Everybody in our department, and all the departments along the Wasatch Front, are aware of him and other officers who are battling these cancers and illnesses."
They want more to be done to take care of sick officers.
Trent is not as much angry as he is hurt.
Trent Halladay: "Not a lot I can do about it, just fight like heck."
Hallady has a wife and two young sons. Utah legislators recently passed a bill to set aside a half-million dollars to study whether there is a connection between the illnesses and meth chemicals. No officers or their families, however, have received any workers' compensation for their illnesses.
