MILWAUKEE — There's a children's book from Milwaukee that tells the story of a little boy who got sick from exposure to lead.
"The lead monster crept into the house through the lead paint and the window sills," said Aidan Branch, reading from the book.
He knows the story well. It's personal — both he and his mother, Deanna Branch, have been hospitalized for lead poisoning.
Aidan was two years old when his mother took him to the doctor. She said he was behaving oddly.
"[The doctor] just kind of just put it off as the terrible twos. Looking back now, as parents we have our gut instinct," said Branch.
Branch said shortly after that visit Aidan was admitted to Children's Hospital for lead poisoning. It was the first of two lengthy stays he had to endure, she said, and the exposure to lead slowed his growth and development.
On Monday, ahead of his State of the City address, Mayor Cavalier Johnson told TMJ4 News he wants to remove lead laterals in nearly a third of the time that has been originally planned.
Since 2017, Milwaukee has been replacing lead lines that are connected to homes at about 1,000 a year. But an estimated 65,000 lines are still on the replacement list. Another hurdle the mayor faces to reach his hopeful deadline is how much it would cost, with the estimates reaching the hundreds of millions.
Mayor Johnson says the new timeline is about making Milwaukee a more equitable and healthier city.
Branch said when she first learned about Aidan's sickness, she didn't even know what lead was.
"No amount of lead is safe for a child. It's a lifelong thing. It's not something that goes away. It's something he'll have to deal with for the rest of his life," said Branch.
Branch said after she was able to get her son out of the hospital, her health deteriorated. She ended up on dialysis, she said, from prolonged exposure to lead.
"So many other families are going through the same thing. It's really important for me and the work that I do, to teach families about lead," she said.
Branch said with great help from her church, she helped found COLE, The Coalition on Lead Emergency, to help educate families about the dangers of lead.
Branch's work took her and her family to the White House. And there, Aidan presented that children's book on lead poisoning to Vice President Kamala Harris. He wrote it, after all.
TMJ4's Bruce Harrison asked Aidan how it feels to be a voice — the author of "Aidan: The Lead-Free Superhero" — for such a major issue.
"It kind of makes me feel kind of scared. Then kind of brave," said Aidan.
Aidan said he plans to write a second book because the fight against lead is far from over. Deanna Branch said she's also working on a cookbook of healthy meals to help clean lead from the body.
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