The news of his mother being found has not brought relief to Sylvester Medor who recently came to Guyana in search of her, but was forced to leave with no clue as to where she was; now, he says, he is unable to sleep.
Police removed Noelina Prospere-Medor from a small room aback of a house at Craig, East Bank Demerara on Saturday last.
Speaking with this newspaper from his London home yesterday, Medor said he has not slept since hearing that his mother had been found and was uncertain what would prompt those responsible for housing the woman to have her living under such conditions.
However, Medor said he could not return here until another two months since he will shortly undergo a medical surgery. “I can’t believe it and since I’ve heard her voice it’s like I can’t sleep properly, but I have to come back and ensure that she is in a proper home and well taken care of,” the man told Stabroek News yesterday.
The man said that when his mother was found, he received a telephone call from a woman he still does not know, then allowed to speak with his mother. According to him, his mother’s voice did not sound as strong as when he last spoke to her. He said up to yesterday he was trying to contact social services for some form of assistance in housing the woman until he could return here. He said, he got no replies from several telephone calls, but added that he would continue to try since he has learnt that his mother would be held at the Georgetown Public Hospital, as there was no one to release her to.
Yesterday the woman remained at the Accident and Emergency Unit and she was resting comfortably.
Asked whether he had any information whatsoever regarding the Craig house, Medor said no, neither was he aware of who was taking care of his mother while she was there. He said a woman who identified herself as “Simone Henry” spoke with him on Saturday and said she had been looking after his mother at Craig.
Medor said he was hesitant to enter into any agreement with Henry when he spoke to her since he had no idea who she was. “I need to come back but I go into surgery next week and it will be a while before I could move. But I hope I could get social services to help me and then I will come and place her in a home and pay for her to stay,” he said.
Meanwhile, Medor said he still could not believe that the woman, who along with her husband, last took care of his mother had denied knowing where she was.
The woman had also told Stabroek News that she had no idea where Prospere-Medor was and said the last thing she knew was that her estranged husband had removed her from the home when the two of them separated.
She had also accused Medor’s son of having motives other than love for his mother in wanting to find her. She felt he was more interested in a piece of property Prospere-Medor owns at Albouys-town Georgetown and for which she had made her husband, power of attorney.
The caretaker
Meanwhile, Prospere-Medor’s caretaker at the unkempt Craig room said both the initial caretakers knew of the old woman’s whereabouts and had hired her to care for her. She claimed that they both visited the place on numerous occasions. This was also the position of another woman who lives in the same Craig compound.
On Sunday, this newspaper visited the Craig location and observed that except for a small pair of windows there was no other form of light being provided to the filthy room.
The caretaker told Stabroek News that some time at the end of June she was approached by the man who asked her to rent him the room at the back of the building. “I rented the place to him and he moved in here with the old woman. I read in the newspaper that his wife said she don’t know anything about the old woman… She is lying. She knew about the old woman,” the woman said. She claimed that after he moved in with the old woman, his wife visited regularly and even spent nights there. However, she said, whenever the husband went to the interior where he works the wife would also leave and Prospere-Medor would be left alone except for short daily visits by the wife.
“I told [the husband] a number of times that he can’t leave this woman in here alone like that. I know when a person sickly like that they need someone with them 24/7,” the woman said.
Lived alone
She said when she was approached by the man who asked for assistance in taking care of Prospere-Medor, she initially hesitated.
“He spoke to my fiancée and I didn’t really want to take the job but my fiancée tell me to take it. He told my fiancée was his mother and that he wanted someone to take care of her when he went away,” the woman said. She said the man told her he would have paid her $40,000, but while he gave her money thrice after hiring her, the amounts did not total $40,000.
According to her, at one time, the man fed Prospere-Medor fruits only, but she advised him that this was not enough. She revealed too that along with the small bed Prospere-Medor slept on, the room also had a hammock, a wardrobe, a trunk and a makeshift bench.
The woman said when she started to voice her concerns about the condition of the place and how unsuitable it was, the man sent his wife to inform her that her services were no longer needed. “I was very upset because when he was in trouble he come he self and when he want to fire me he send she,” the woman said.
She was the one who called the police and the media after she was informed by her cousin that Prospere-Medor’s son was looking for her.
