FUNERAL FOR LATE MOTHER THAT SOUGHT HELP FOR HER DAUGHTER WITH BRAIN TUMOR HELD TWO WEEKS AGO

NEWS that the day Andrea Williams passed away was the very day she was to complete her master’s degree at the Caribbean Maritime Institute, touched the hearts of the congregation gathered for her thanksgiving service two Saturdays ago.

Williams, the mother of 14-year-old Leslie-Ann Goulbourne, who was diagnosed with germinoma, a non-malignant tumour that affects the brain and the spine, died at the Princess Margaret Hospital in St Thomas from what the family said was stress, which resulted in a collapsed lung.

The 40-year-old who desperately sought financial help for her daughter’s radiation treatment by way of the Jamaica Observer on February 15, died exactly one month later while her daughter was four weeks into her treatment for the tumour that had spread from her brain to her spine. Leslie-Ann’s treatment was made possible following the intervention of Minister of Health Dr Fenton Ferguson, who had stepped in and funded the full amount of $1.6 million.

“When Leslie got ill, she (Williams) said she was not sure she could complete her course, but I encouraged her and told her that she would,” Ibrahim Ajagunna, director, School of Academic Studies at the Maritime Institute, told the large congregation that had gathered inside and outside the Airy Castle Church of God Ground of Truth last Saturday. “Never did we know that Leslie-Ann’s sickness would take its toll on Andrea. It saddens me that it is not her graduation that I am attending today but her funeral. It is very unfortunate that such a gem has left us so soon.”

Williams, whose remains were cremated the day before her thanksgiving service, had confessed to the Sunday Observer days before she was admitted to the hospital that her daughter’s illness, along with going to school while working full-time, had taken a toll on her physically.

In giving the eulogy, policeman Ezra Stewart said that Williams, who attended Bath All-Age, Charlemont High, Duff’s Business College, Northern Caribbean University and the Caribbean Maritime Institute, was sociable, ambitious, and intelligent with a quiet demeanour, yet was a ‘no- nonsense’ individual.

He said that caring for the sick was not new to Williams as years ago she cared for her younger brother, who had a chronic kidney problem, while their mother was overseas.

“So from time to time she would take him to the doctor in St Thomas and in Kingston for treatment. So evidently from an early age she learnt to be responsible, disciplined, and committed,” Stewart said.

Denzil Thorpe, director at the National Insurance Scheme, described Williams, who worked as a secretary at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s St Thomas Parish Office for almost 20 years, as a dedicated and selfless mother and an invaluable member of staff. He said that the minister, permanent secretary and the entire staff at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security all extended condolences to the family.

Williams’s co-workers also attested to her dedication as a parent and worker. They said at one point during her daughter’s illness Williams did not sleep for 15 days, and at other times slept in her car in the parking lot of the hospital while her daughter was a patient at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

Joanna Facey from the National Council for Senior Citizens described Williams as one who did extremely well with senior citizens and would give her last meal, and stayed hungry if she had to.

“She was always willing to go the extra mile and put her all into all that she did,” Facey said. “She was an extraordinary person.”

Leslie-Ann, who spent part of the thanksgiving service sitting outside with family and friends, was sombre but dry-eyed. She told the Sunday Observer that she was doing well and was “okay”.

Since she was diagnosed with the rare disease last year, Leslie-Ann has undergone four brain surgeries, 12 weeks of radiotherapy on both her brain and spine, weekly visits to the hospital and numerous tests and scans.

Prior to that, she had gone completely blind in one eye; partially blind in the other; crippled in one arm and partially crippled in the other; unable to move her neck; and suffered severe pains.

Her uncle Leonard Williams, along with other family members, said that the child was doing much better and had regained the use of both her arms, vision in both eyes — though not perfect, and was moving her neck.

“She still cries for a little pain every now and then but she is coming along,” her uncle said. “And she is coping with her mother’s death. She is really coming along.”

Williams, who was baptised in 2009 in the church that hosted her thanksgiving service, received a number of glowing tributes from family, friends, co-workers and schoolmates.