Father desperate to save his daughter

It's been a long, hard road for Sebert Williams of Woodhall, Clarendon.

In 2017, his daughter, Shenieka, suddenly took ill and was initially diagnosed with meningitis. Things have gone downhill from there, with her being in and out of the hospital.

He reached out to The Gleaner and was featured on March 14, 2018. He said he was grateful for the assistance he got, but it never really touched the tip of the iceberg where his expenses were concerned.

His daughter has been hospitalised at the University Hospital of the West Indies for the last five weeks and on Monday, she had surgery to clear the tracheal stent (a tube which is placed in the airway to assist in breathing). Tissues were growing around it, resulting in breathing problems for Shenieka.

"I have been fighting this battle for the past two years and I feel like I am going under. It is so hard. Every day she is in the hospital it is $3,000, plus Monday's surgery cost $200,000. The cost to travel from Woodhall to the hospital, it's just a strain," he told the CENTRAL STAR.

Williamson said had it not been for God's grace, he might have crumbled long ago, as right now he is looking at a bill of more than $4 million.

The distraught father said his daughter now needs a larger stent and other stuff that will aid her on her path to recovery - and it seems insurmountable right now.

"I have a bank account, but there is nothing in it. All that has been wiped out long ago, trying to keep up with her care. I dream of the day when I can get my daughter home - happy and laughing like the child she was over two years ago," he said, almost in tears.

Shenieka, who is his youngest child, was excited about her first year at Denbigh High School and looking forward to returning after the Easter holiday.

All that was denied on Good Friday in 2017, when she collapsed.

"She has been fighting this battle and I try to stay positive for her and to be strong, but it is not easy. There are times I cry out to God, and I have to believe He will send someone our way to help, 'cause it is hard, really hard," said Williamson.

An electrician by profession, he said the work isn't always consistent and that makes it harder for him.

He is also thankful for friends and relatives who assist when they can, but for the most part, he said he is swimming in a sea of debt, fighting for his daughter's survival.

"From the bottom of my heart, I am pleading, begging for a break, whether with the fare for the daily trek I have to make to the hospital or in making a dent in the bills piling up; just help me to help my daughter," said Williamson.

Anyone wishing to assist Williamson can contact him at 876-844-0736.