WARR ACRES, Okla. (KFOR) – A Warr Acres family is over the moon Monday as a bed bug issue they’ve been struggling with for almost a year is starting to come to a close, thanks to an offer of free extermination from a local pest control specialist.
Last week, KFOR received a call about a family suffering from a bed bug infestation.
Autumn Rain Morgan, one of the family members living in the house, said this has been an ongoing issue since November, but they were “officially” diagnosed in April.
“They’re on fabric, surfaces, beds, couches, love seats, blinds, the curtains, virtually every surface,” added Autumn.
Autumn was worried the infestation was impacting her grandmother’s breast cancer treatment, as extensive time is being spent by hospital staff cleaning their waiting and operating room.
“For somebody who’s going through chemo, their immune system’s already weakened,” she continued. “It could go further. It could make it even harder. So, she might have to stop chemo, wait for that to heal and then start back up again. That could take weeks. That could take months. And this is not something that needs to wait. This needs to be something that’s dealt with so she can live a full and happy life.”
Autumn pleaded for help, saying they couldn’t financially afford to hire a professional to kill off the bed bugs as it could cost thousands of dollars to do so.
Autumn said it has gotten better since News 4 was last out there, but that she’s still covered in bites and itching like crazy.
“It’s a constant battle of do scratch, not scratch, to scratch. Screw it. I can’t stop. I have to scratch because it’s annoying,” she stated.
The family is unsure of where the bed bugs came from, but say they have some speculations ranging from picking them up from a restaurant to an outsider bringing it in.
Since airing the story on Aug. 11 and hearing the cries for help from the Morgan family, several pest control specialists reached out to News 4 saying they want to help.
One of those specialists being the owner of Killin’ It Termite and Pest, Rainey Land.
“I saw an article online as I was reading my daily news on Saturday and mentioned it to my wife,” Land stated. “Knowing how bad, you know, it seemed that the problem was and how much it was affecting this family and her medical treatments, we just wanted to help.”
Land has offered to fully exterminate the Morgan family’s home for free.
“I’m going to do a number of probably at least, definitely two, if not three or four, specific heavy bed bug treatments that’s going to involve liquid treatment for walls and non fabric furniture, dust treatment, but in the wall voids like behind the electrical outlets. And anywhere I can access the wall voids and then aerosol treatments for all the fabrics, furniture and the carpets,” he explained.
Land said within three to four bed bug treatments, the family should see a significant decline in the pests.
Altogether, Land explained how this will save the Morgan’s anywhere between $1,000 and $1,500.
Moving forward, Land also told KFOR he’s going to put the family on a “general plus plan,” which is going to cover every Oklahoma pest except termites.
Land said he and his wife are willing to pay for the treatments out of pocket, but he is making phone calls now to see if any of his suppliers will donate the products he needs to do this.
“I have some other feelers out and hope to have some more donations come in. Just Oklahomans rallying together to to help this family,” he added.
News 4 showed up on the Morgan’s doorstep just before noon to break the good news with Land that he was offering his services for free.
Both Autumn and her grandmother, Janice, were in a state of shock and surprise.
“For a moment, I thought I was being punked. I honestly did not expect the amount of respect and the affection of the community to willing and willingness to help. That was very surprising,” said Autumn.
Janice was in tears saying she’s still trying to wrap her mind around what’s going on.
“I am in complete awe that the community would be not only be cognizant of me, but my family. And I can’t tell you enough about how that makes me feel, which is absolutely shocked. It’s not something I expected, so thank you so much,” said Janice.
The first treatment will be scheduled once the prep work is completed.
Land said this is his first time doing something like this and he’s excited to help the Morgans.
If you’re interested in donating to Land’s effort to help the Morgans, you can call his office at (405) 930-7067.