FBI Agent Says Bureau Failed Her After Illness

BOSTON -- An FBI agent says the bureau has abandoned her as she fights a disease contracted while on assignment in Cuba.

NewsCenter 5's David Boeri reported that Theresa Foley said she's in a fight against the bureau and to regain her health.

Foley is an FBI agent who volunteered for duty at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba three years ago.

"I went down to Guantanamo to work. I signed off knowing it would be a year of my life. I thanked God for the opportunity," Foley said.

But now, Foley said she can barely walk and has undergone spinal fusion and surgery because of a bacterial disease called leptosporosis. The disease is transmitted by rat urine, which Foley said infested the living quarters to which she was assigned at Guantanamo.

"Due to the heavy rat infestation in that housing unit, that's what did the damage," Foley said.

Foley said the bureau didn't let her move. Meanwhile, her condition worsened. Foley said by the time she was diagnosed by a specialist in Boston in January 2004, who claimed that doctors at Guantanamo missed an easy diagnosis because "they didn't want to diagnose her condition."

"I'm their error that they want to go away," Foley said.

While at Guantanamo Bay, Foley, who comes from a law enforcement family, said she observed some agents spending too much time fishing, diving and partying.

"I'm told I'm working too much. I thought that was the war on terror," Foley said.

By August 2004, Foley said the disease had penetrated her central nervous system, requiring multiple surgeries and long-term care by her parents in Roslindale. Yet, she and her doctors said the FBI fought tooth-and-nail against medical interventions and surgery, fought them on worker's compensation and a transfer to Boston.

Foley said the FBI relented only after Sen. Edward Kennedy's office stepped in.

On Wednesday, Kennedy said, "The FBI and the administration need to stop stonewalling in this case. It's long past time to come clean about what really happened to this agent in Guantanamo."

When asked why they had not kept contact and looked after an agent injured in the line of duty, an FBI spokeswoman in Boston told NewsCenter 5 that Foley had failed to notify the office of her surgery and status.

"I have been deathly sick, in and out of the hospital. It is my mother who has to care for me, who has to bathe me and dress me. It is my responsibility and that is their answer? That is deplorable," Foley said.

NewsCenter 5 contacted an FBI official in Washington declined comment on Wednesday.

Kenneth Kaiser of the Boston FBI office told NewsCenter 5 that "Currently, FBI officials maintain contact with her … This office will continue to offer assistance and support ... I cannot comment any further out of respect for Special Agent Foley's privacy."

Foley said she has never spoken with Kaiser and no one has been in contact with her since April.