UNION COUNTY, Fla — "We treat dogs better," says Robert Adelhelm, a retired Marine colonel who visits fellow Vietnam veterans in prison at Union County Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida.
Adelhelm says he's seen inmates use "toilet paper and scotch tape" to make homemade bandages. Even as a temporary problem, he finds it unacceptable.
"These are veterans who are honorably discharged, fought for our country, and we're making them use scotch tape and toilet paper on their wounds," Adelhelm said, clearly upset.
He goes to UCI on a regular basis, usually once a month, to work with incarcerated veterans in Chapter 1080 of the Vietnam Veterans of America. The chapter has won national awards for raising thousands of dollars inside prison walls through walk-a-thons and then donating the money to nonprofit efforts.
The chaplain of that group is an inmate named Raymond Gregg, who is in prison for life for a murder 26 years ago.
Adelehelm has gotten to know Gregg and is speaking up on his behalf.
However, for Gregg, it's too late. He has cancer, and his doctors say he is now terminal.
Gregg, his daughter says, had to make the toilet paper and scotch tape bandages as well, but his medical issues are far more grave.
His daughter, Kelli Cisco, is angry at the prison system in Florida. She says, "They succeeded in killing my father."
Cisco says doctors urged FDOC and Centurion, the health care provider for Florida state prisons, to treat her father's cancer almost a year ago. Gregg was given multiple scans and tests, but a doctor's report says an effort to see if he could be operated on met a refusal "by the Department of Corrections" in April 2024.
"Have you ever heard of Tylenol being the treatment for a tumor eating his brain?" she says.
Gregg has a cancer called "eccrine gland carcinoma," a cancer of the sweat glands.
First Coast News spoke with several doctors involved in Gregg's case and they confirmed his cancer should have been treated earlier.
"I don't want to die," Gregg says. He and his daughter both say they understand he's in prison to be punished for the murder he did commit, but say he's a human and deserves better treatment.
First Coast News reached out to Centurion and FDOC for their response.
The following response was received from FDOC:
FDC is prohibited from addressing your specific concerns as doing so would violate privacy laws and protected health information.
At the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC), we place utmost importance on the healthcare and safety of our inmate population. We hold a fundamental responsibility to providing inmates with a constitutional standard of care when they are admitted to the Department's institutions in accordance with Florida law.
Upon intake, each individual undergoes a comprehensive health examination, and we continuously monitor and evaluate inmates for their medical, dental, and mental health needs throughout their incarceration.
You can watch our First Coast News investigation into Raymond Gregg's case Wednesday, Sept. 4 at 5:30 p.m.