Stroke survivor begs for a home

Hyacinth 'Nicky' Bennett begins every day with a ritual that strips her of privacy and dignity - she has to take the bucket in which she has passed her waste to a pit at the back of her yard in Rose Town, Kingston.

A broken pan lays across the opening of the pit, the only barrier between people and the waste below. Bennett also bathes in a chair, the water coming from a drum filled by a neighbour's pipe. At 53, the licensed cosmetologist, who once prided herself on independence, is living without a basic necessity - a bathroom.

"Mi affi full water and lock it off and be mindful of how much mi use," she said. It is a far cry from the days when Bennett was known simply as 'Nicky the stylist'. She recalled the buzz of hair dryers, the smell of oils and creams, and the chatter of women filling her chair as she worked.

"I was very strong," she said, noting that she could once stand for hours, earn her own living, and support her children without struggle. Bennett, who was working in the Cayman Islands on and off for 13 years, had got married there, and was enjoying life. But things began to unravel in 2020. That year, she contracted COVID-19 and then suffered a stroke, from which she has never truly recovered.

"At first mi did a walk, but mi never did a walk good. Mi did a walk wid a limp and see mi here now," she said. "From there so, mi condition nah get better. Physically, financially... everything collapse." The illness came after years of loss. She buried her sister in 2015, then her mother in 2019. She said that the marriage went downhill after she got sick, and though she was still able to travel between Jamaica and Cayman, her physical state constantly declined. She underwent eight months of physiotherapy in Cayman, but she said it didn't help.

"Mi don't move a straw," she said. Bennett finally returned to Jamaica for good in March 2024, where more therapy at least enabled her to walk unsteadily.

But her living situation was a mess. After losing a home in 2015 to fire because of electrical issues, neighbours donated materials so she could piece together a single room. In 2022, she received a home from Food For The Poor Jamaica. Despite all the struggles - including the deaths of her close relatives and still dealing with the effects of the stroke - it seemed like her luck had finally changed. But that house burned down a year later.

"Mi nuh even know how it burn down," she said, adding that she has no links to crime. Today, only rubble remains, and she wonders whether she will ever qualify for another unit.

"Mi would be grateful if mi could get back another one, because right now mi have nowhere proper fi live."

With her cosmetology career behind her, Bennett has tried other means of survival. She attempted to launch a small castor oil venture, shaking a bag of seeds as she spoke. But the project never took off. She now depends on handouts.

"Begging, I struggle to get by. I beg a lot, and it is not something I'm proud of. Whosoever sorry fi me and can help, them give me something, and mi grateful," she said. The financial strain is compounded by her medical bills, as her prescriptions are costly.

Her personal grief is also raw. Bennett broke down as she spoke about her daughter, who left last May and has not been seen since. She now lives with one of her two adult sons, the other residing across from their dwelling. Despite being grown, she avoids relying on them.

"I don't like to pressure them too much. Mi no think that's what mi must do as a parent."

Amid all of this, she holds firmly to fragments of dignity. She refuses to surrender to the wheelchair which is parked outside her home.

"Mi just nuh want to be bound to it," she said, leaning on her stick instead. She continues to believe she can keep moving forward.

"I just want back my independence," she said.

Persons wishing to assist Hyacinth Bennett may contact her at 876-817-5349.