After living and working in the UK for most of their lives, our parents retired to the Caribbean Island of Dominica, which has recently been ravaged by the category 5 hurricane Maria, the most powerful storm in its history. With the sheer scale of the devastation hampering relief efforts, the recovery process is believed to take several years and billions of dollars. Our Mum is the primary care giver for our 76 year-old dad, who suffers from dementia. He has been completely bedridden since 2013, so they had to stay in the house during the storm. After 3 weeks of no news from, or about our parents, because the electricity was down across most of the island, we were contacted by the high commissioner of Barbados. They informed us that they would like to evacuate our parents back to the UK because of our Dad’s health issues and because medical supplies, food and water are very scarce on the island. However, it is highly unlikely that our Dad will be allowed, or able to fly to the UK on a commercial flight and the cost of a private air ambulance from Dominica to the UK is upwards of £49.000.

We are also unsure, at this moment in time if our Dad will be able to receive care on the UK’s National Health Service (accommodation, care, medical bills) because he has been out of the country since 2006. Our parents’ house is in Grand Bay, which is a rural area. Our 66 year-old Mum had to walk 1 hour over wrecked roads, to reach the nearest town of Pichelin, to get a lift to Roseau, so she could make a phone call to us. Food aid was sent to Grand Bay, but she wasn’t given any because priority is given to families with children, at this moment. A friend has been sharing her rations with our Mum so she can survive. Our Mum has lost over 2 stone over the past few weeks and sending over food would take 3-4 weeks.

Despite the difficult situation she is finding herself in, our mum is the type of person who is always in good spirits and always has a smile on her face. Her favourite song is Three Little Birds by Bob Marley and we hope to sing this song with her when we are reunited.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

- Share our story on social media with a personal message

- Donate what you can to this Just Giving page

- Send prayers, positive thoughts, and good vibes

We really appreciate all of your support. Any funds that we can raise will go towards helping dad relocate to the UK, and helping mum in caring for dad in the long term.

Last message from the Grand kids (above).