Joey Yerkes's blog

Turning the Adversities of the BP Oil Spill into Motivation

Joey Yerkes — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 12:48:22 +0000

A motivational speaker by the name of Jane Rubietta once said, "Someone may have stolen your dream when it was fresh and young and you were innocent. Anger is natural. Grief is appropriate. Healing becomes mandatory. Restoration is possible."

Almost four years ago my dream was stolen. I was a

I have shared the gory details of three and a half years of detox, IV drips, bleeding from every opening in my body, taking up to 40 pills a day, vertigo, headaches, ongoing skin lesions that never heal, neurological and cellular damage, waking up daily with my face in the toilet, lethargy, sleeplessness, crippling and constant joint and muscle pain, chemical pneumonia, and the mental anguish that has resulted from fighting sickness for almost four years now. I am in my second year of walking with a cane to maintain my balance. Have I mentioned the $80,000.00 I have spent on saving my life? I am now in debt to the tune of $85,000.00 more now and survive check to check just to maintain a place my daughter and myself can now call home. I still fight the same health issues on a daily basis.

Ah, the paycheck. What a blessing my new job has been. After losing three jobs prior to this one because the physical aspects made me too sick to keep them, I found one that only requires me to talk on the phone and work at a computer. I sought work only out of desperation to survive financially and to avoid homelessness. Working any job is not recommended by my doctors, as it only escalates my health problems. There is no more money to borrow. There are no more loans to acquire. There is only my motivation to survive as long as possible for my daughters sake. I lost my life and now live only for her.

I have always strived to be the best at everything I do. My success over the years speaks for itself. BP took that away from me. Now I am determined to be the best at my current job. My daughter will know that her daddy died with his pride and fought his hardest until the very last day, despite adversity.

My supervisor recently asked me to share my story with my co-workers so they too can realize that you can turn adversity into motivation, overcome any obstacle that stands in your way, and rise to the top. I have now been in the top ten globally in sales and call-conversion two months in a row, received employee of the month in February, and have reached every bonus opportunity they have offered us the last three months in a row now. The global sales team consists of around 50-70 throughout three call centers. I am not and (never have been) a braggadocious personality, but I am damn proud to be on top after facing my daily health and mental challenges that constantly bring me down. They have now asked me to share my story throughout the company so as to motivate my co workers. I am helping others again and that has always been my way of living.

I owe a great big thank you to my beautiful four and a half year old daughter who has been my motivation from the day she was born. I would have given up a long time ago if not for her powerful existence in my life. Maybe she will read this one day after I am gone so she can use it as motivation throughout her life. Prayer, love, belief, and my daughter's smile will continue to motivate me until the end. I have accepted my ultimate death now and fear nothing. My daughter will be proud of who her daddy was, and she will understand what I was fighting for. I am seeing to that as I write this.

I do not seek revenge against the murderers who are responsible for our adversity. I seek the truth and enjoyment of watching them squirm in a courthouse full of my peers, family, and others who are fighting their own adversity to survive this disaster. No matter the outcome, I have already defeated them.

Whether your motivation is your family, overcoming adversity, achieving success, or just survival, be proud of who you are, what you stand for, and what your motivation drives you to accomplish on a daily basis. Use your adversity to motivate you to be the best and always reach your goals, especially when they tell you that you can't do it. They don't want us to survive because they know we now live for the day they are forced to answer for their sins and finally face the truth.

I made the decision this year not to sit back and let the last three years melt me like an ice cube until I am gone. I hope my story will motivate others across the Gulf to continue to fight. Never give up. Use your own adversity to motivate you to survive this disaster. Understand that we are not outnumbered and I believe that God will have his way with the murderers who wish we would all just hurry up and die. Personally speaking, I am at peace now.

Joey Yerkes is the proud father of a young daughter and a cast net fisherman from Destin, Florida who worked clean-up during the 2010 BP Oil Disaster.

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Tony Hayward Got His Life Back, Now How About Ours?

Joey Yerkes — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 09:22:26 +0000

According to a recent multi-million dollar ad campaign, everything is back to normal again across the Gulf. I guess

I have spent the last three years trying to survive. I had chemical pneumonia twice early on, barely survived that, and three years later still experience a number of symptoms related to my exposure on a daily basis. My early morning ritual most days is spent with my face in the toilet, most times checking to see if I am bleeding again or not. I have lost blood off and on from everywhere imaginable over the past three years and have learned that it means I am physically trying to do to much when it happens. A few examples of physically over exerting myself anymore would be taking my daughter to the park, walking any distance(now with a cane), washing the car, or doing things that most people consider normal daily activities. I have to rest a lot. The headache never goes away, I am haunted by Vertigo, nausea, lethargy, sleeplessness, shortness of breath, constant fevers, night sweats, short term memory lapses, cellular damage, immune deficiency, and pain in my joints and muscles that can be absolutely unbearable at times. Seven out of 10 on a pain scale is bearable and normal for me these days.

Please understand that I am not writing this to get sympathy. It still makes me sick that there are so many people like me that are experiencing the same situation, especially the children. I was one of the lucky ones. I found a doctor that put me through an extreme detox program that lasted over two years. I have had too many IV treatments to count.

That's when the money ran out. I continue to rely on supplements to maintain a tolerable level of health to get through most days. Every time the money runs out and I cannot afford the supplements, my health crashes. My immune system doesn't exist, or so it seems. There is no more money left to borrow anymore and I am buried in debt now. I have had several jobs over the past two years, In order to survive financially, but after being a fisherman all my life, finding a non-physical job that I qualify for has been nearly impossible. I have always been a fighter and my now 4 year old daughter inspires me not to give up. I only live for her now. I have no life outside of her anymore. If it wasn't for her inspiration and love I would not have made it this far.

I want people to know that everything is not OK. People, including children, are still suffering from the effects of this disaster. We still do not know the long term effects yet. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of lives, not just a single community or household. If "we the people" do not speak the real truth then all that "they the people" will see is the ad campaigns based on lies.

I want nothing more than the people and fisherman across the Gulf Coast to thrive and live prosperous lives through health, well being, and family, but the truth is too important to ignore anymore. I pray for all every day and know that Someone I have become very close to is watching the monsters that have proven to us that our lives and livelihoods are expendable to them. I am glad you got your life back sir, now can we have ours too? Maybe it is too late to recover our loss but it is never too late to salvage what remains.

Joey Yerkes

Lost business of 9 years, after spill
Lived in Destin, Florida
Accidental activist

Photo courtesy of Joey Yerkes.

Previously: by Joey Yerkes

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"The Gulf was My Church" – A Fisherman Reflects on Loving, and Leaving, the Gulf Coast

Joey Yerkes — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:20:20 +0000

By Joey Yerkes. April 21st, 2012. On this day two years ago I was anchored up on the East side of Destin pass, stocking up with live cigar minnows, waiting for the morning rush of boats to come out the pass. It was still dark, and pretty early, so I kicked back and gathered my thoughts before the rush. There was a faint smell of burnt crude in the air, and I already knew what had happened the night before. That morning the wind was a very light WSW. As I sat there praying for anyone that might have been injured during the disaster, the radio startled me.

"Bait boat, you out there Joey?" 
"Go ahead, Cap" I replied.
"Can you believe that it blew up?"

I was speechless as I then knew the magnitude of the disaster. What I did not know was that my life would change forever that day, and so would the lives of many others. I decided to come in early after the rush to try to catch the news and find out any details about the explosion.  

Over the course of the next few weeks, I knew my livelihood as a cast net fisherman was in jeopardy, especially if they didn't stop the leak pretty quick. If you grew up in the Gulf, you kinda know what can happen if a rig blows up. OIL, and lots of it, flows into the ocean. But wait, they have a mechanism that supposedly seals the wellhead right? Maybe it won’t be so bad. I felt so much sympathy for the workers who lost their lives that night, and for the families who lost loved ones. Man, I love my daughter so much, I thought to myself.

I can't remember who told us about the meeting in Pensacola regarding BP hiring boats to work clean up, but I was going to be the first one there to sign up, considering it’s not feasible to throw a cast net with oil in the water. My business partner and myself were waiting for them to unlock the door for the meeting. After an hour or so of questions, a few very elementary videos, and some big promises, we took the contracts home. We were signed up for the now infamous VOO program, Vessels of Opportunity.

For the next few months we looked for, documented, and cleaned up oil and dead wildlife from the spill. At the time of the big July stand down, when clean-up operations were scaled back and a large number of VOO workers were fired, we saw more oil than ever before, and things were getting worse. My boat never got called back. We wanted to wear respirators, but we were informed that if we show up with, or get caught wearing any kind of respirator or mask, it would result in unemployment.

Sometime in August, I started getting very bad headaches and noticed I just wasn't feeling right. Despite feeling bad everyday now, I decided to go back fishing after receiving my termination letter in the mail. Oh well, back to reality, I guess. Not many of us had been on the water in weeks, due to the fact that we were still contracted and could be called back at any moment, known as being on "stand by". I had been sick, so really I was out of the loop as to the oil locations or latest sightings. I anchored on the East side of the pass, not unlike the onset of this story, and began to fish. After 30 minutes of casting, I noticed myself getting dizzy and nauseous, and my skin started to burn. Next thing you know I was throwing up violently and didn't know if I was even going to be able to get back to the dock. Well, I have never been one to let the flu stop me from working, so I went back the next night to try again. 30 minutes, same result, despite fishing a whole new area off the beach. It's been downhill ever since for me, as my health fell apart from then on.  

Dr. Riki Ott. What can I say about her? Without her advice, I don't know if I would be here today. A survivor of the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, she came down to the Gulf and told us what to expect, told us about the affects that oil and corexit would have on our health and the environment. I finally found Dr. Rodney Soto, who immediately put me in a detox program and began to run the proper tests. This is after weeks of other doctors treating me with antibiotics, which made me worse, hot baths with sludge around the rim of the tub afterwards, and too many symptoms to count. "What the hell is happening to me? Am I dying? I’ve never been sick like this in my life." Throughout detox, I did some traveling to raise awareness and help other fisherman and residents who didn't know how to get help. I eventually got so tired and sick, I just couldn't do it anymore. I left the Gulf, my home, in mid November that year.  

One of the saddest days of my life was when I had to watch my daughter Addyson leave in the car, knowing I would probably never bring her back to the Gulf. Ever since June 15th, 2009, the day she was born, I dreamed of the days I could take her on the boat and begin to teach her about life on the water, and what it means to respect Mother Nature, and how lucky we are to have this incredible resource in our backyard. Over the course of the last 26 or so years, I have worked many boats, fished many bodies of water, made many people smile as they caught their first fish, fed many families with the seafood I caught and sold, and even had several perilous close calls with death on the water. The Gulf was my church.   

I'm very lonely nowadays as I spend most of my time surviving the health issues I face on a daily basis. I lost all my friends. I lost my social life. I lost my livelihood. If it wasn't for the times I spend with my daughter, my inspiration, I would have nothing to live for anymore. She is the reason I fight this daily, and continue to work to support her and myself.   Oh, the money ran out after 7 months of treatments that consisted of 2-4 IV drips a week, a special, very expensive diet, and 40+ pills a day. Today, I can only afford some of the pills I'm supposed to take for the rest of my life. It amounts to around 35 pills a day, or $300 monthly. I walk with a cane now to help keep my balance (vertigo), and help me walk with the excruciating pain I suffer from in my joints and muscles. I cannot carry my daughter and walk at the same time, much less run or really play with her. Sure, I make the best of it, and she loves me no matter what. I am truly blessed to have her, and she is why I will continue to fight this. My day begins with my face in the toilet, as vomiting is a way of life now. I have to use my GPS when I drive so I know how to get places I drive to daily. Without it I am lost. My house is full of sticky notes as reminders to do daily tasks. The list goes on... 

So I write this today, on the day of the second anniversary of the disaster that changed my life forever. I'm coming back. Oh, mark these words BP, I'm coming back. I just found out that all of this is worth around $70,000.00, and read that that is more than fair and sufficient to "make it right." I got news for you, this time I'm not going to be the "accidental activist" as Dr. Ott has called me on several occasions; I'm on a mission. It will be very much on purpose this time, and you will know who I am. God bless you all who fight daily for our voices to be heard, and I hope that when the day comes that I can return to visit "on purpose" this time, you will once again accept my friendship and reopen your doors. As for you BP, you don't scare me. Follow me, threaten me, park at the end of my street, I don't care. You won’t have to look for me, I won’t be far away.

All photos courtesy of Joey Yerkes.

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