East Palestine mom struck with symptoms since toxic train crash

For Kristin Battaglia, life has been 'like waking up in a nightmare every day' since last month's East Palestine, Ohio train derailment. 

The 37-year-old mom worries that her exposure to those chemical clouds in the immediate aftermath of the crash and the three days that the fire continued to blaze may have permanently impacted her health.

In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Battaglia shared medical records that show she has sought care from both her doctor and an urgent care clinic for shortness of breath, sore throat, a rash, burning skin and breakouts which she has never experienced before.

Kristin Battaglia, 37, has been suffering from shortness of breath, sore throat, a rash, breakouts in her skin, and a host of other symptoms since the East Palestine chemical train crash on February 3

Extraordinary photos shared by the single mom with DailyMail.com show the scale of the fiery crash from the ground as the train wreck released chemicals and toxins into the air 

One resident who lived near the site recalled hearing several loud and fast 'booms' at the time of the crash followed by the sound of sirens 

She has also experienced muscle aches, fatigue and a host of other symptoms which have been attributed to an allergic reaction to an 'environmental exposure.'

Battaglia was at home in the town, just 1.3 miles from the scene, on the night that it happened and felt the ground quake beneath her feet. 

'We heard the fire engines responding and it seemed like a large response for a medical situation or a car crash,' she said.

'I thought maybe a business was on fire at first then one of my neighbors said that a train was on fire.'

That's when she made a decision that she regrets to this day. 

The 37-year-old single mother hopped in her car and drove to the scene where a Norfolk Southern train carrying a toxic soup of carcinogenic and corrosive chemicals had lit up the night sky.

Medical records shared with DailyMail.com show Kristin has sought care for a host of symptoms which have been attributed to an allergic reaction to an 'environmental exposure'

The young mom said the two doctors she has seen determined her health issues are a result of chemical inhalation

Kristin, who says she's experienced skin outbreaks and rashes, fears the exposure to the toxic chemicals may have permanently impacted her health

What she witnessed was, she said, 'like a hole had opened up from hell.' 

'It was just blazing, and all this smoke was billowing and clouds of white, dust-like stuff were raining down,' she said. 

Battaglia, 37, says she now regrets ever driving to the scene of the crash which she believes could have impacted her health forever

Now she is worried that she and eight-year-old son Grayson will have to leave the home in which she grew up and the neighborhood she loves because both have fallen sick. 

She doesn't trust official assertions that anything is safe and she is not prepared to risk their future health. 

She said: 'I think it's very concerning because there was the fallout from the initial fire and then the fallout from the controlled release which looked like an atomic bomb had gone off.

'We stayed in a hotel in Sandusky during that but within a couple of days of coming back I started getting symptoms again.

'My skin felt like it was on fire I broke out in a bad rash, my skin blistered and peeled, and my eyes and throat were burning. I felt short of breath, had fatigue and have had digestive issues too.

'I've been tested, and I don't have COVID or strep-throat or the flu. Two doctors have told me it's due to chemical inhalation.'

Today she faces the grim prospect, she said, of leaving her 'idyllic' childhood home, pulling her son from the school that he loves, and starting afresh somewhere new.

'I feel like I'm forced to completely uproot. Starting from scratch isn't cheap but because I'm outside the magical one-mile line that they drew for the evacuation zone I don't know who will help me.' 

Photos and firsthand accounts shared with DailyMail.com lay bare the devastating impact of the East Palestine train derailment disaster that saw a toxic soup of carcinogenic and corrosive chemicals light up the night sky on February 3 

Clean up and excavation efforts are still underway at the site five weeks on, with the remains of burnt of train cars and other rubble still laying on the tracks  

The site of the disastrous derailment (pictured on February 19) has become ground zero where a mixture of six highly toxic chemicals leached into the soil and water

Battiglia, who works in sales for a freight company said: 'I'm on 30-day emergency leave from work but that comes to an end on March 22, and I have to have us settled and in a routine with school and childcare for Grayson by then.'

Right now, she said: 'I'm trying to figure out who to speak to at Norfolk Southern to find out who can help.

'Nobody came to our door – no EPA, no Red Cross, no governor. Nobody has explained anything to us. 

'I'm sick, my son's sick and I'm trying to find out as much as I can but it's not easy.

'Honestly it's like waking up every day in a nightmare. We feel alone and forgotten.'