This letter was written by a person incarcerated at Pleasant Valley.
Finally locking up, unpacking, I realized the cell’s vent was blasting fiery hot air. The toilet would not flush, and when we used the hot water faucet it would not turn off. That night, my cellmate did not snore, but he wheezed loudly. I thought he might have pneumonia.
At around 2 a.m., water started pouring through the back wall of the cell, and I used towels to mop up the water, wringing it out in the sink. Much to my surprise when I looked out the back window, it wasn’t raining. The water was coming from plumbing inside the walls.
Breakfast trays were delivered to the cell. My cellmate wasn’t hungry. I encouraged him to eat anyway but he refused, so I ate his tray. For some reason I was ravenous.
When medical staff came by to check our temperatures and oxygen level in our blood, we told them about my cellmate’s wheezing, lack of appetite, and that he felt his chest was heavy. I also told the guards about the water pouring through the back wall, the toilet not flushing, the hot water continuously running in the sink, the hot air blasting out of the vent, and they said they weren’t plumbers.
How about placing us in another cell?
No response.
