‘Please, I’m begging’
Adrian Laing, father of the 13-year-old survivor of Sunday’s house fire that left her three younger brothers dead, has made an impassioned plea for help. He is hoping corporations in Jamaica and within the Diaspora would fund the cost of airlifting his severely burnt daughter Adrianna to the United States to get medical care.
“Words can’t explain. I am just calling on corporate Jamaica to get on board; please, I’m begging. I have lost three of my boys and my daughter is the only surviving pickney that can lift me back up,” he pleaded Wednesday.
The boys’ mother has been missing since last year and his daughter’s mother, he said, has been no help.
“She is alive but she is missing in action,” he said in response to queries from the Jamaica Observer. Since the fire, he said, Adrianna’s mother has called only once.
He was speaking during Wednesday’s media briefing hosted in Kingston by Sanmerna Foundation, a local organisation that has spearheaded efforts to get his daughter to Georgia for medical care.
Project manager of Sanmerna Foundation Stephen Josephs said they successfully applied for a passport for Adrianna and she has been accepted as a patient at a burn unit in the United States. He said they expect an application for a visa waiver to be granted soon.
However, all this will mean nothing if they cannot pay US$39,872.50 for the air ambulance.
Jamaica’s Consul General in the US Oliver Mair has galvanised the Diaspora, which has so far contributed US$2,000.
“Time is of the essence so we ask persons to meet their contribution as fast as possible so that she can get the medical care that she needs at this time,” he appealed.
In general, a burn victim needs to get the specialised treatment needed within 48 hours to make a full recovery.
“She is actually fighting. She will pull through; she just needs to leave Jamaica… Her vitals are doing very good but time is running out and we have to do everything in our power to save this little girl,” said Josephs.
“I am appealing to corporate Jamaica, [for] everybody to come on board, the Government to come on board and let us give her the opportunity to resume her normal life,” he urged.
Managing director of Sanmerna Foundation and Paper Products Robert White also pointed to the need to act now.
“We want to get her out no later than [Wednesday]. If it can’t happen today, let us try and shoot for [Thursday]. We are depending on you, corporate Jamaica. We are depending on everyone even if it is a saving pan with a dollar. Every dollar can help,” said White.
This is the third burn victim that the foundation has assisted.
In May of last year they spearheaded efforts to access treatment for Nicola Clarke after she was doused with a flammable substance and set ablaze by a jealous spouse. That incident took place at her place of business in Great River on the border of Hanover and St James.
People wishing to donate towards young Adrianna’s medical care may do so via Scotiabank Negril, branch account # 830159. The account is in the name of Sofia McDonald, a relative. Payment can also be made directly to Trinity Air Ambulance.
