East Palestine family says they felt sick soon after train crash

NOW PLAYING

Want to see more of NewsNation? Get 24/7 fact-based news coverage with the NewsNation app or add NewsNation as a preferred source on Google!

(NewsNation) — Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, have been able to return to their homes following a train derailment that released toxic chemicals, but some fear the air still isn’t safe.

That includes Chris and Jamie Wallace, who took themselves and their 3-year-old child to a hospital after they experienced breathing issues. The diagnosis was an upper respiratory infection.

The family started to feel sick immediately after the train crash.

“I knew something was different when we left town and there was that chemical smell in your nose, as if you were in the bathroom cleaning with bleach and you walk out and you still smell that bleach in your nose,” Jamie Wallace said Tuesday on NewsNation’s “CUOMO.”

The family doubts the determination that the air and water around East Palestine is safe, and Chris Wallace said he doesn’t trust the government right now.

“It just seems like everybody let us down,” he said.

Watch the interview above.

[CUOMO]

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20260112181412