KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Chris Patterson is a retired Knoxville fire department captain. Days before Christmas in 2022, he was responding to a house fire when the ladder he was on "gave way" and he fell and broke his back. Now, he's in constant pain and he's speaking out to see if would bring him pain relief sooner.
"I've had to endure the stress, the pain, the sleepless nights, the loss of appetite every day. It's chronic pain. Imagine an abscessed tooth for 23 days. Now, put it in your lower back and this has been going on for a year and 11 months and I'm just asking for a little bit of help," he said.
Patterson said in addition to constant pain around 2 years later, he also has tremors in his leg. But the retired fire captain's surgeons said there is a possible solution to his ailment — a spinal cord stimulator.
"They think I'm a good candidate for this surgery. You have to take a psychological evaluation to show that you can withstand the recovery. What I've been through has been far worse than what this surgery is. I took the psychological that was requested by my attendant, by the authorized treating position. I passed it," said Patterson.
He said the problem is that the company in charge of his workman's compensation claim is not handling this in a timely manner. On Tuesday night, he decided to bring this complaint to the Knoxville City Council.
"Sedgwick is a third-party company that the City of Knoxville hired to process the workman's comp claims. They also kicked me out of the hospital four days out of intensive care and the mayor was there for that. I was kicked out of the hospital out of intensive care after back surgery and smoke inhalation," said Patterson.
He said he isn't the only person who has had problems with Sedgwick.
"Captain Mark Lacey retired from a heart attack, I'm sure people are aware of this. He had days left on his battery. Sedgwick would not approve it. They had to send it for review. If I don't get what I need, I'm in pain. If he doesn't get what he needs, he's dead. Another firefighter said it could not find any of the paperwork that showed where he got hurt or that he had an agreement with the city. Luckily, for them, he had the paperwork, and all of a sudden they found it. Now I'm trying to let myself believe that none of you are aware of what Sedgwick is doing. But now you are and I'm not gonna stand by a city firefighter, a retired one, and be treated like this," said Patterson.
He said after he spoke at the city council meeting, several council members came up to him saying they didn't know of the issues he's been having with Sedgwick.
Patterson said after his interview with WBIR Wednesday morning, Sedgwick called and told him he was approved for the trial spinal cord stimulator. He said he doesn't think it's a coincidence he was approved after the city council meeting.