‘Breadfruit’ family says thanks for help

AN AILING grandmother of six, Monica Felix,  yesterday thanked two good Samaritans who gave her foodstuff  after reading about her plight in last Saturday’s exclusive Newsday’s front-page story. However, while  Felix, 53, was very grateful for their assistance, the distressed woman said she received only a mountain of promises from several persons and organisations, including the PNM party group for the area. “This is not for me. My time (death) is near, because I can feel my health deteriorating. I just want to make sure the children are okay before my time comes,” Felix cried. 

Felix, who was diagnosed with a liver ailment and in urgent need of surgery to save her life, continued, “I am very happy for what they (two  Samaritans) gave me, but my grandchildren still need a bed to sleep on. Right now they are sleeping on the floor and I need a proper stove to cook for them. The old stove I have is rotten and only one burner is working, which I have to prop with stones.” Felix, who was left to care for her six grandchildren, including her one-and-half-month old grandson, after her daughter abandoned them, appealed to the public to assist her with food for the children, who usually relied on a meal of breadfruit to sustain them on a daily basis.

When Newsday visited her San Francique, Penal home yesterday her four-year-old grandson, clad only in his underwear, was hugging the only mother (Felix) he has ever  known. Felix, whose stomach was swollen and hard, said the PNM party group promised to visit her yesterday to make arrangements to have her rotten, old, woooden flooring boards replaced, but they have not reached as yet.