Mother hospitalised after trying to save children from burning house

Twenty-four-year-old Andrea (Keisha) Noel was still a patient at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital up to press time Wednesday, being treated for burns she received while trying to save her children {{more}} when the house they occupied at Richland Park was engulfed by flames on Monday night.

Noel’s one-year-old infant son Romano Warren died in the inferno and her other son, six-year-old Brian Warren, was also a patient at the hospital, after sustaining burns on the legs, hands and parts of his head.

The mother of the boys also received burns about her body after she entered the house to try to save her children, neighbours said.

SEARCHLIGHT was informed that the fire started around 10 p.m. and that Noel had gone a short distance away from the wooden abode for a few minutes.

Neighbours say the fire started a short while after she left.

They were quick to refute claims that Noel had abandoned her children.

Conrad Williams said that it had been brought to his attention that some people had indicated publicly that Noel had left her children home alone and gone out.

“She is not a neglectful mother; she loves her children, because sometimes you can’t even talk bad about the children them,” the man said.

“She made an attempt! She was around,” Williams continued.

“It is very hard for a mother to lose a child,” he said, adding that she was also burned after trying to rescue her children.

Pearlina O’Garro said that she was very close to Noel and would often babysit her two children from time to time.

“I feel very bad,” the woman said.

She told SEARCHLIGHT that she immediately ran out into the street crying out for help.

Her husband also made an attempt to rescue the children, but the house was consumed by the fire in a matter of minutes.

Another woman, who preferred not to be identified, said that she has been friends with Noel for about 10 years.

“She is a good mother,” the woman said.

“There are times when everybody needs to clear their head.”

She explained that Noel left the house temporarily, after an argument broke out among some of the villagers.

Noel was not directly involved in the argument, the woman explained, but she decided to step outside briefly.

“But they have it like she went out looking for guys and all sorts of things,” the woman said.

She further contended that if Noel had in fact abandoned her children, then they would have both died.

“She was a good mother and she took care of her kids.”

The woman said that she knew Noel to be very polite and would often accept little odd jobs, whatever she could get.

“She is young, yes, and young people tend to think odd things these days, but she was a good mother… she didn’t go looking for man,” the woman told SEARCHLIGHT.

Veronica Hackshaw, grandmother of six-year-old Brian, also said that when she spoke to Noel, she was told that she had not gone too far from her home when the fire started.

But she said that although the relationship between Noel and her son had ended, she did not have any negative feelings towards the young woman.

Meanwhile, Brian Hackshaw, father of the six-year-old said that he was taking everything in stride.

“I am trying my best to keep up because I feel like breaking down, but I am doing my best to hold up,” the man said.

Speaking to SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, Hackshaw said that he was yet to come up with anything concrete for the future.

The grieving man said that he was not yet ready to speak about the incident, as it was too difficult to do so.

He said that he and Noel had been romantically involved for about eight years, but that they were not on terms at the time of the tragedy.

They, however, did communicate frequently, Hackshaw said.

The incident is being investigated to determine what caused the fire.