by: A. Tyler Settle

The cost and red tape of the public health care system are to blame for delays in medical treatment and followup therapy needed by a 15 year-old Jamestown area boy who was shot in the head with a BB gun last year.

This is the contention of those involved with on-going case of Jason Chase, who suffered permanent brain damage by the pellet.

Added to the tragedy of the incident itself is the fact that Jason's father was laid off from his job shortly after Jason's release from the hospital and his mother can find only part-time work. Consequently, the medical bills are piling up and there is no money for the therapy Jason needs.

Folk rockers and Jamestown area natives, who are members of the band 10,000 Maniacs say they want to do their part to see to it that the bureaucracy does not further delay Jason's recovery.

"It seems very unfair. We (were contacted by Jason's attorney's office) and they described how difficult it is for Jason emotionally and physically and how its been made worse by the bureaucracy. We felt that money is what he needs right now because its taking so long for him (to get the services) so we thought whatever we can give would speed it up for him a little," Maniac's lead vocalist Natalie Merchant said in a recent telephone interview with The Post-Journal. "Also, Jason is a victim of violent crime and, as rare as it is in Jamestown, it happens and people need to be aware of that."

The Maniacs - long-known to champion social and other causes - along with guitarist and composer Jim Scott, will hold a benefit concert or Jason Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. at Jamestown Community College's Physical Education Complex.

JCC's Faculty Student Association is sponsoring the benefit concert and it will kick off JCC's Fall Festival. Tickets are available at the Reg Lenna Civic Center box office (484-7070).

Proceeds from the concert will go to the Jason Chase Fund, which was established soon after the youth was shot in March of last year.

Carmella Wheeler, custodian of the benefit fund, says she was referred to the Maniacs by Family Services staff who told her the band is responsive to the needs of locals.

"They're giving us more exposure than anyone else has," Ms., Wheeler said of the Maniacs.

She says Jason was intentionally shot on March 16 of last year by another teen.

Jason had brain surgery to remove the bone fragments, was in critical condition for a time and then remained hospitalized for another month to begin his recovery.

The cost of the surgery, hospitalization, doctors fees and therapy. is overwhelming to the family, especially in light of the cancellation of medical insurance after Jason's father lost his job at Valeo in May of last year, says Ms. Wheeler. She estimates the medical bills are more than $20,000 not including the cost of the therapy Jason so desperately needs to adjust to his disability.

The BB gun pellet, which went through Jason's brain, lodged there permanently, doctors told Ms. Wheeler.

The boy has severe emotional, psychological and behavioral problems, as well as some physical deficiencies as a result of the injury. Specialists have said the best treatment would be a rehabilitation center with programs geared toward head-injured patients.

Though Jason's father is now taking vocational classes, he is not yet employed and, in the meantime, Jason is at home with "no therapy and no medical help," Ms. Wheeler said.

The goal is to get him into a New Medico facility in Massachusetts, she said, and this of course takes money and/or insurance.

The family is victim, she said, "of a system in which health care is not available to people who are unfortunate enough to have lost their insurance."