MP appeals to corporate Jamaica to raise funds to fly burnt teen to US
WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Western, Morland Wilson, is appealing to corporate Jamaica to help raise the almost US$40,000 needed to air-lift teenage burn victim Adrianna Laing to the United States for medical care.
Adrianna is the 13-year-old sole survivor of Sunday’s house fire that left her three younger brothers dead. The family is hoping she will receive a passport on Wednesday.
She is to be treated at Joseph M Still Burn Medical Center in Georgia.
“It is critical that we get her to a burn unit in Atlanta,” the MP told OBSERVER ONLINE on Wednesday, noting that time is against the 13-year-old.
Wilson said the family is urgently in need of funds to cover the cost of Trinity Air Ambulance International, which operates out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Funds may be wired directly to the company’s bank account at TRUIST (see details below).
On Sunday night, Adrianna was left badly burnt after a fire at the family house that claimed the lives of her three younger brothers.
READ: 3 children die in fire
On Tuesday, project manager of local organisation Sanmerna Foundation, Stephen Josephs explained that burn victims have better odds if they receive treatment within 48 hours. The foundation is working with the family to get medical help for Adrianna. They are hoping she will be issued a passport today and a visa waiver can be granted so she may travel to the US.
According to Morland, while Sanmerna Foundation made the direct link between the hospitals and coordinated the flight, funds need to be raised to cover Trinity Air’s fee.
“I’m asking the nation to support them in whatever way they can and keep them in your prayers. [Adrianna’s life] is really on the line. Support as you can,” the MP appealed.
According to the police, 48-year-old Adrian Laing was at home with his four children when he lit a candle after a power outage in the community. The music selector popularly known as DJ Bones, later went outside and, shortly after, the house was engulfed in flames. Efforts were made to rescue the children, however only Adrianna was saved due to the magnitude of the blaze, according to the police report.
When the Negril and Savanna-la-Mar fire brigades were doing cooling down operations, the charred remains of seven-year-old twin brothers Jorden and Jayden, along with their eight-year-old brother Adrianno Laing, were seen in the burnt-out shell of the five-room house. They were taken to the hospital where they were pronounced dead.
READ: WATCH: Grandmother mourns death of 3 children killed in Westmoreland fire
– Kimberley Peddie