(WXYZ) - Radon is responsible for 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year. We’ve reported those statistics before. Today, we’re talking about real people.
Fourteen-year-old Michael Tanana is a freshman at Churchill high school in Livonia. He plays both ways on the junior varsity football team.
He told us, “I used to play hockey. My dad used to be really into football and stuff and I looked up to him so much. I tried it out and I loved it. I’ve played ever since.”
Football was just one of many things that linked Michael to his father, Sam. But on October 2, Sam Tanana passed away after fighting a 6-month battle with cancer.
Even more brutal, five days later, his wife Courtney, Michael’s stepmom, also died of cancer.
The family believes the young couple was killed by the elevated radon levels in their home, a silent killer Michael had never known was a threat.
“I had no idea what it was, this entire big scene and all this actually got me into it,” he says.
Michael has lost his father, and his three half-siblings must now grow up without either parent. Michael’s mom, Laura Khalil, says the pain for the children has been almost unbearable.
Laura told us, ”Samir was an excellent father and a wonderful role model and Courtney was a beautiful and wonderful mother and stepmother. They were good parents. They loved their kids."
And now friends have stepped in to help fill the void. The football team has become a second family to Michael.
The community has arranged a car show and fundraiser to help all four children.
And now Michael and his mom want to make sure everyone else understands just how deadly radon gas can be.
“It’s got a lot of people to check their basement and stuff,” Michael said. “It might have saved a lot of lives, so its good knowing that other people don’t have to go through what I’ve been through because it hurts, you know. So, I’m happy that other people don’t have to go through that.”
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