“Betty”, the mentally disabled woman who was found living in a dilapidated house at Dowding Street, Kitty has been identified as 71-year-old Edris Fraser and she is now a patient of the Georgetown Hospital after her condition took a turn for the worst.
Stabroek News was told that Fraser was rushed by ambulance to the hospital by two of her children a week ago. This newspaper had visited the woman at the house a week prior and she appeared very weak and had a swollen foot.
When this newspaper visited her yesterday, her daughter Margaret who lives a corner away was feeding her a meal of bora and rice which was prepared by the hospital. The elderly woman who suffers from diabetes appeared well, but was crying out for pains in the abdomen. Her swelling in her foot had also reduced considerably.
Based on what the daughter said, the woman is receiving medical attention for her diabetic condition but had run out of tablets.
Margaret, who lives a few corners away from her mother, told this newspaper that she was very upset at the article that was published on Sunday, stating that the family does not need help.
She said there are relatives overseas who would send money to an aunt here who buys foodstuff and takes them to the family. Fraser lives with another daughter and two sons.
According to the woman, some time back the family secured a piece of land at Diamond from the Housing Ministry and relatives overseas have promised to build a house for them there. She said steps to start the building process have started and that the owners of the Kitty house have given them up to January month end to move out.
She said things were not as bad as they seemed and stressed that the family did not need any “help”.
Margaret has promised that when her mother is released from the hospital, she would care for her. She said she has also taken in her sister who is 41 years old.
From all appearances, she would visit the home occasionally and take items.
Later one of Fraser’s son, Robert, arrived at the hospital and he too expressed dissatisfaction with the newspaper article. He also told this newspaper a similar story of how relatives overseas send money for them and are to build a house for them.
When Stabroek News visited the house about two weeks ago, Betty and one of her daughters, who cannot speak, were there. The wooden floor was bare and sunlight was streaming through countless holes in the roof. The kitchen area had been turned into a dumping ground for piles of work clothing and there was a large pile of orange socks. There was also an old kerosene oil stove and the area around it appeared to be burnt. In the bathroom more worn clothing could be seen, and there was an even larger pile of orange socks. Old curtains were used to enclose a section of the lower flat, where one of the woman’s sons resides.
There was an old bed frame without a mattress and bags of clothing.
The two women were in an unfurnished room and apart from three ragged chairs there was no furniture in the house.
A shabbily dressed Betty was lying on the floor on a bed made out of cardboard and a small piece of foam, which she used as the pillow. There was a strong stench emanating from a corner of the room, where there was an old barrel, a covered enamel bucket and two covered pots sitting on top of some old newspapers.
This newspaper walked the length of the house and no food stuff or drinking water was visible.
