Woman suffers mystery illness after returning to flooded home

by: Taranjah Yaw Fri Feb 14, 2014

Samesha François is lucky to be alive after her home was flooded during the recent weather system and her mother was injured and had to be hospitalized.{{more}} Now the 21 year-old has contracted a mysterious infection that causes a rash to break out all over her body.

François, who lives in the Rose Bank valley below the hard court near the beach, told SEARCHLIGHT that during the storm she was in her room when it became flooded with mud, some even covering her. Samesha said that after visiting her mother at the Chateaubelair Hospital she returned on Boxing Day and began to clean out their home, but she had to halt the process as the next day the rash began to appear on her body.

Francois has seen doctors who are treating her with antibiotics, but her condition has worsened; some of the rash has since turned to sores, which cover her entire body, including her face. Francois said that the rash is very painful, which causes her to scratch to find some relief. “I just want to get back my life and get a job just like any young person,” the distraught young lady said.

Opposition leader Arnhim Eustace, along with area representative Roland Matthews and Senator Vynette Frederick, visited Francois on Wednesday. Eustace told SEARCHLIGHT that the young woman’s condition has really moved him and he will do anything he can to help her. “I will put Vynette on the case; we must do something about this young woman’s condition’, he lamented. Eustace also said that during the last month and a half he has seen the most human suffering that he will ever see in his lifetime. “The passing of the storm has exposed an underlayer of poverty due to neglect and victimization in some cases”, he stated. Senator Frederick said that she will begin the process of seeking specialist help for the stricken young lady.