Mom ready to beg so her daughter can walk - Parent of 1-y-o hit by stray bullet seeking help

Avina Jones' life took a drastic turn last Sunday after her only child, one-year-old Mia Dailey, was hit by a stray bullet.

Mia, affectionately called Dream, was at her grandmother's home in West Street in downtown Kingston when the heart-wrenching incident occurred.

Mia was in a chair, waiting to be fed, when some time after 7 a.m., gunmen attacked a fellow resident. The infant was caught by one of the shots.

Since then, the child has been at the Bustamante Hospital for Children and has been responsive.

Jones, who has been by her side for four days straight, told THE STAR that she has received multiple reports from doctors regarding her daughter's condition.

"The doctor said the bullet hit a bone around a spinal cord and that's why her legs not moving. The second report I got is that she's not going to walk properly because they can't do anything about the damage to the spine ... maybe something can be done overseas," she said.

Overseas option

But when she suggested the overseas option, Jones said that the doctor told her that the damaged bone would not grow back.

"That leave me helpless now," she said.

Mia suffered a seizure hours after her surgery on Sunday, due to a high fever. Jones said that she is prepared to exhaust every option to ensure her daughter will be able to walk again.

"Even if I have to walk and beg fi help ... dem say me baby nah go walk, so me caa just siddung and lef it so! Me really have a fear. Me just a hope fi the best," she said on the verge of tears.

Right now, she feels like a sitting duck, not being able to get her daughter the help she needs.

"I have to wait on a bone specialist or surgeon to know why the legs not moving. This make me really confused. Me a try fi cope ... me a try fi seek help. My baby is just one! Me caan just lef har so and nuh try me best ... me a fi seek help," she said.

But she is elated that Mia is awake and communicating with her.

"From the very first day she did her surgery and came out, she was talking. She talk to me ... she tell me she want juice and water. She had a fever the night, so she caught a seizure, so at that time she never did a respond," she said. "I said to her 'You are a strong baby, enuh... me and yuh a pray and God a go help yuh.' Me ask her if she a go get better and she shake her head and say yes."

Mia is among some 180 persons to have survived gunshot wounds on the island since the start of the year.

At least 200 other persons have not been so lucky as the country's murder rate contines to climb despite eight of the 19 police divisions being under states of public emergency.