Bon Secour Shrimper Dies Waiting on GCCF

The claims process is something Tracy Redding has become all too familiar with. "I had no idea it was going to consume my life for the last year and a half."

For months, she has been helping charter boat captains fill out claims paperwork hoping to recoup some of the money they lost during the BP oil spill. Freddie Coley was one of the captains who was not only fighting "to be made whole", Coley was also battling cancer. "I've been really disappointed even with a captain that had hospice care how long it took and how many obstacles we found in trying to get his claim resolved," says Redding.

After months of going back and forth with the GCCF, Redding finally got the document that would allow Coley to receive his final payment. She got it this morning. He died last night. "I'm glad I got to spend the time with him I wish that I had had a little bit more and I wish the last part of his life hadn't been filled with unnecessary drama."

The red tape that complicated Coley's last days remains. Even as claims offices close along the gulf coast. "Why isn't there somebody in front of a microphone telling me yes we are downsizing the personnel but we have what we need to get it done. I would argue you've never had what you needed to get it done downsizing isn't going to help," says Redding.

Freddie Coley certainly didn't think so.

Redding says what the Coley family has gone through and other claimants continue to go through is an example of the frustration level that remains along the gulf coast for those still dealing with the GCCF even as offices continue to close.

News Five tried to get an interview with claims czar Kenneth Feinberg but was told he was on a plane and unavailable.