Mother’s Day and 5G EMF/RF/WIFI “Waves Make Me Ill”: A New Mother’s Story
Switzerland: “Waves Make Me Ill”: Testimony of Electrohypersensitivity
An article published in Switzerland in 2014, by Jennifer Keller, Femina, chronicled the story of then-new mother Godeliève:
Original article in French (electronic version: pp. 34-35):
Insomnia, dizziness, pain. Godeliève, 37, from Les Ponts-de-Martel, lived three hellish years until she understood the origin of her suffering.
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“It is still difficult to talk about this because the subject is taboo. Many people think it is psychological. They cannot conceive that cell phones, computers and other wireless devices, extremely practical and often tied to the notion of freedom, can be unhealthy. I myself would never have imagined the impact that they could have on health. It took me months of going from one doctor to another before understanding this.”
“It all started in spring 2010. My husband, who is American, and I were in Boston visiting his mother. We share life between the United States and Switzerland. We slept in a room where I had never really felt well. The level of electromagnetic pollution must have been very high there, in part due to the electric lines passing within several centimeters of the walls… My health deteriorated within several days. I could no longer sleep. I was seized by dizziness, suffered headaches and had the impression of being dehydrated. At the Boston hospital, I was diagnosed with a possible virus …”
“The days passed and the symptoms grew worse. I started to have trouble breathing, felt tingling in my fingers and toes, experienced difficulty moving my limbs and thinking. My son being six months old, my doctor attributed it to fatigue… But this state continued, transforming my daily life into an obstacle course. I could no longer do anything. I could not drive, for example. Being an actress and co-director of a theater company, I had to cut down on my live performances and our work in schools. The situation was intolerable. I thought of stopping everything. My husband was at his limit. He had to take care of everything: our son, the house, our company.”
“For months, I went from doctors to specialists in the hope of understanding what was happening to me in order to find remedies for my ills. Not knowing what I had and not being able to do anything about it were worse than anything, not to mention the lack of understanding of family and friends in the face of the sickness which plagued me. This was a very difficult period.”
“Finally in late 2011 I met someone who was elecrosensitive herself in order to hear for the first time mention of the condition of electrohypersensitivity. She recommended a book, “Wireless Radiation Rescue” by Kerry Crofton. I had always thought that electrosmog was unhealthy. But it was at this moment that I realized that it could make one sick to the point of being handicapped. In order to verify whether it was indeed this, we camped outdoors, far from everything. After three days, I had returned to near ‘normal’.”
“A building biologist measured the electrosmog circulating in our home in the U.S. The levels were in fact elevated. We switched off the wi-fi and talked to our neighbors in order to reduce the waves coming from them. This was complicated to manage. We could have moved. But we had family and friends close by. We didn’t have the heart to do this.”
“When we returned to Switzerland, we moved into an apartment without wi-fi, on the edge of the village. On the second day, my symptoms increased with a vengeance. I thought I was losing my mind. We once again called in an EMF consultant who detected stray electric current. For two months, we lived with electricity only in the kitchen in order to contain the current. This helped me a lot. In spite of everything, my health continued to deteriorate. The effect of waves is cumulative: the more one receives them, the more one becomes sensitive.”
“I decided to go to a clinic specializing in integrative medicine. There, at the Paracelsus Clinic near St. Gallen, a check-up by an MD confirmed my sensitivity to electrosmog, which was a relief for me. Finally, my sickness was recognized by a professional! Dr Von Toenges recommanded different ways, to help me with this condition. I made some changes in my environment.”
“We purchased a corded phone with a speaker so that I can again communicate. I changed my glasses which were metallic and therefore conductive and do not wear any metal jewelry. I take supplements to fortify myself.”
“Going out remains a problem. In general, my husband does the shopping. It is difficult to take a train. When I am on the stage, we ask the audience to switch off their cell phones. When we are with friends, we do the same. My daily life remains complicated, but in comparison to before, I am living again. I do not yet know how the future will be. I hope one day I will be better. I am not giving up.”
Functional medicine practitioners and physicians in Europe were recognizing and diagnosing illnesses caused by radiofrequency exposures faster than their American counterparts. Engineers, geobiologists, building biologists, and other professionals have been working to create tools to help mitigate from environmental electrosmog toxins, including electromagnetic direct current (DC) fields, low-frequency alternating (AC) fields, magnetic fields, electric fields, high-frequency alternating (AC) fields, including mobile/cell phones (GSM, UMTS, LTE etc.) mobile/cell phone towers, cordless telephone (DECT) radiation, microwave ovens, Wi-Fi (Wireless internet), bluetooth, radar, CB radio.
In addition to mitigating her own home environment, it was also necessary to attempt to stem the tide of towers and antennas being installed near her home. Hilltown Health is an organization she helped establish in Western MA to “leverage responsible technology.”
The town of Shelburne, MA updated their by-laws on May 1st, 2018 so that citizens have something to stand on when the first applications come in to install a 5G “small cell” network. Shelburne also increased their setback between wireless infrastructure and residences to 1500′ – the largest in Massachusetts. Hilltown Health is now working with other towns in the area to make similar updates. Studies show the biggest spike in health effects for people living within 1500′ of cell towers. Nevertheless, the area continues to see AT&T, Verizon, etc. applying to install towers close to homes, spurred on by federal subsidies available through the FCC, which has been described in a Harvard Ethics report as a “captured agency.”
Godeliève and her playwright husband Jonathan established Piti Theatre Company based in Shelburne Falls, MA and Les Ponts-de-Martel, Switzerland in 2004. Several of their performances focus on environmental concerns, including Innocenzo, To Bee or Not to Bee, and Hawaii Five-G: Canary in the Gold Mine, a virtual comedic performance designed to spark awareness about the 5G rollout that will premiere this summer and then begin worldwide touring. Piti (pronounced “pea-tea”) is an ancient Indian (Pali) word translatable as “joy” or “rapture.” Piti’s mission is to create original performances and community-building events that accelerate local transformation towards joy, sustainability and justice. Awards and recogitions they have received include the Suzy Polucci Food Justice Award (for To Bee or Not to Bee), the Children’s Theater Foundation of America Aurand Harris Fellowship, Club Passim Iguana Fund Award for their musical collaboration with Carrie Ferguson and the Independent Reviewers of New England Nomination for “Best Solo Performance”.
★ ★ ★ ★
Winnipeg Free Press Readers Rating
” . . . guileless storytelling and sweet slapstick to charm an audience of any age. They utilize puppetry, clowning, juggling, song, movement and audience participation to teach and entertain their charges about caring for the precious air we breathe and sustaining the species which depend upon us for survival.”
- Beverley Creasey, Boston Arts Review
“Both times we found Piti’s work to be outstanding . . . This company has developed a proven and innovative way to capture the talents of students of young ages for on-stage participation in musical theater pieces written to address cutting edge issues presented with original scores and beautiful mobile sets and costumes.”
- Aranka Matolcsky, Executive Director, Mahoosuc Arts Council
“It was a pleasure to attend the performance and I particularly appreciated the finesse with which the message about electrosmog’s impacts is shared with children.” – P. Duvanel, Director, Office of Information Technology for Public Schools, Canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Learn more about Piti Theatre and Hilltown Health:
Godeliève’s art: https://ptco.org/art-gallery/
http://ptco.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Shelburne.TelecomBy-Law.Amendment.2018.pdf
https://www.hilltownhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Sample-5G-Code.pdf
Patricia Burke works with activists across the country and internationally calling for new biologically-based microwave radio frequency exposure limits.She is based in Massachusetts and can be reached at [email protected].
