Mother pleads for help for disabled daughter

A Sandy Bay woman is calling for the general public to help her to assist her disabled daughter.

During an interview at the Sandy Bay Government School on Saturday, Emily Browne appealed to persons, asking that they assist her in getting a new wheelchair for her daughter, Donte Browne.

Donte, 18, suffers from cerebral palsy, a condition marked by impaired muscle coordination (spastic paralysis) and/or other disabilities, {{more}} typically caused by damage to the brain before or at birth.

Emily told SEARCHLIGHT that she has been left homeless and in need of assistance after the passage of a trough system last Tuesday that devastated the north-eastern side of St Vincent.

Recalling her experience, Emily said that she had to grab her four children and her sister’s two children when the heavy rains caused her house to flood.

She further recalled carrying Emily through the heavy rains before they arrived at the storm shelter.

Apart from the wheelchair, Browne is also requesting a double mattress for her daughter, whom she says slides off the single mattress she is currently using.

She also complained that she does not have anything to bathe her daughter.

“I don’t have anything to go and bathe her in. I normally bathe her in a big banana tub, because she can’t stand up, she can’t sit down, she can’t do anything, so I have to help her myself,” said Browne.

“So, I would like to get something to bathe her in and I would like to get a mattress,”

Browne and her four children are among the 125 people who were present when SEARCHLIGHT visited the Sandy Bay shelter on Saturday. At press time on Monday, 55 persons remained in that shelter. (AS)