“It’s like a part of me missing” – Mother of 8-Y-O who died in Cummings Lodge fire
The late Dr. Burton Grebin once said, “to lose a child is to lose a piece of yourself.” Listening to Aliyah Noel speak about the unbearable loss of her son Jermaine Johnson Jr. to a fire has proven this quote to be a truism.
8-year-old Jermaine died last Sunday – two days after being severely burnt during a fire at his Lot 873 South Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown home. In fact, his great-grandmother, Lynette Gray, 75, and his sister, 5, also received burn injuries.
A grieving Noel explained that she and her children’s father had gone to the airport and were on their way home when they received the tragic news.
When they arrived on the scene, the Fire Service and an ambulance were already there – her children were already heading to the hospital while her grandmother was being lifted out of the burning house.
As a result, she and her partner jumped back into the vehicle and went to the Georgetown Public Hospital. Upon arrival, she saw medical personnel performing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) on her little 8-year-old boy.
“He ketch back [himself], and like 15 mins after my son raise up off that bed, put down his foot to get up and said mommy, daddy I want to go home and the doctor told him to lay down back, and that was the last time I hear from my son,” a distraught Noel shared.
While praising the medical staff at the health institution, the mother recalled that her son wanted to become a pilot. Besides, she noted that he always “did his best in school” and referenced a test he had recently done, in which he scored 15 out of 15.
“I cried every single minute - every single body posting him, and every time I see a picture with him, it breaks me down,” Noel posited.
She continued, “I was saying to myself, Lord just take me with my son. I just want to be with him and also be strong for my daughter, but at this point, I don’t know what to do.”
Moreover, Noel said that with her son’s death, it feels “like a part of me missing.” She has received support from businessman Azruddin Mohamed for her son’s funeral.
The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) had reported that at about 2:43h on January 27, it received a phone call of a fire at Lot 873 South Cummingslodge, Greater Georgetown.
As a result, water tenders from the Campbellville, Alberttown, and Central Fire Stations were dispatched to the scene. When firefighters arrived there, they observed that a two-storey wooden and concrete house was engulfed in smoke and flames.
Despite firefighters’ efforts, the building and its contents were destroyed. A probe into the cause of the fire later found that it was an electrical fan that overheated and ignited nearby combustible materials.
To this end, Noel is pleading with the public for assistance in rebuilding her home. She can be contacted on 680-0153, 698-8796, or 222-4731.
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