Sacha Walters, Staff Reporter

Years after the Fraser's Content community in St. Catherine has been rid of lead in the soil and one mother has moved from the neighbourhood, she and her daughter are still reeling from the effects of the girl being poisoned.

Nicola Daley, now 18 years old looks half her age because her growth has been stunted by her being poisoned by lead when she was four years old. Nicola, who lives with her mother in Johnson Pen, St. Catherine, does not speak. She is unable to bathe, feed or control her bowels independently.

However, her mother is finding it increasingly difficult to take care of the teenager who has recently stopped walking.

"From wa day yah mi see har start draw pon har bottom," said her mother Carol Allen. The unemployed woman said that while her daughter has had difficulty walking since she first fell ill, it has got worse and she now needs a wheelchair.

Tonsil problem

Nicola fell ill last October with a tonsil problem that was preventing her from eating properly and she was taken to the hospital. She was in bed for some months and after recovering her mother noticed her inability to walk.

Allen has been unable to find the money to continually take her daughter to get the medical attention she needs.

In the 1970s, Fraser's Content in St. Catherine was found to have a high level of lead in the soil and citizens fell ill because of the problem. Subsequently, the problem was remedied.

When Allen's problem came to light some years ago she said she was offered help from various groups but since then nothing has worked.

There has been no institution that has been able to accept her daughter in the state that she is in. Allen said that she is willing to take care of her "baby", she just needs help with the finances.

Three of Allen's children, including Nicola, have suffered some effects of lead poisoning. Her other kids, 12-year-old Jovian Daley, also suffered from fits. He died on his way home from school when he had a seizure and fell into a drain and drowned. Twenty-year-old Gary Daley, the oldest son, also suffers from fits.