An epidemic of uncontrolled illnesses and injuries rages through our nation's workplaces. It moves quietly, its devastation too dispersed to be recognized. Still, millions of workers injured or made ill each year and their families struggle in a wake of personal pain and loss of income. Here is one worker's story.

"The doctors don't think the infection will kill me," Sue reports matter-of-factly. After seven years of surgeries, pain and dealing with workers' compensation insurance, she has resigned herself to life after occupational injury.