Heart patient loses home to fire after leaving hospital

Just hours after being discharged from the hospital, Beatrice Williams learnt that the house in which she has resided since 1958, was destroyed by fire last Saturday.

"I was in the hospital, hooked up on the heart machine, [and] then I got discharged. I was in the pharmacy when I got a phone call," the 70-year-old said.

The person on the other end of the phone told her that her family house, located at Wallen Avenue, Old Braeton, St Catherine, was burnt down. The three-bedroom unit was home for eight persons; five adults and three children.

"I am a heart patient and I'm just trying to take it easy that I won't act up. Because every month, if not every two days, I'm in the hospital hooked up on the heart machine," she said.

Beyond the emotional devastation, the loss of her home has made managing her condition even harder. The stress could put her at great risk of complications.

"I have to brace myself because when I realised I wasn't coming back to a home, I had to prepare myself and say all is not lost, because I have my life same way," she said.

But it's not just the loss of her home that haunts Williams. She's also been battling to access her long-awaited pension -- an additional burden that has only compounded her suffering.

"I swept the road for 24 years, and I was supposed to get my pension. But after all that, I haven't seen a dime," Williams lamented. "It's almost a year now, and nothing."

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Now forced to rebuild from the ashes, the family faces a future filled with uncertainty. Alan Levy, Williams' son who lived at the house and had his furniture workshop in the backyard, found the loss to be both personal and professional. Not only did the fire destroy his home and business, but it also erased months of hard work and cherished memories.

"Mi just buy a fridge, mi just buy a stove, mi just buy a washing machine, and everything gone," he said, his voice heavy with disbelief and sorrow.

He told THE WEEKEND STAR that a significant amount of money, material and pieces of furniture have been lost in the fire.

"If this never happened, you would have seen about seven bed heads here by now, but it's all gone," Levy shared.

"I had about $250,000 saved up for business materials, and it burn up," he said.

Despite the mounting setbacks, Levy's resolve remains unbroken.

"Sometimes every setback is a greater comeback," Levy said, hinting at the determination to rebuild not only his business, but also help his family rise from the ash.

With the roof over his head gone, the furniture man has found temporary refuge with a family friend nearby, while other family members have no choice but to sleep under a shed on the property. Williams, her grandchildren and the others huddle together at night, exposed to the elements.

"The only thing that really bothers us is the mosquitoes," Williams said of the pesky insects that feast on them.