‘Can’t wait to have my son back’
Mom of dog-bite victim praises surgeons, others
THE MOTHER of five-year-old Mickele Allen, the Jamaican boy who was attacked and mauled by dogs in his hometown of St D’Acre, St Ann, said that she is feeling happy and thankful following the initial surgery performed on her son at the Montefiore Children Hospital in the Bronx, New York.
“He is sitting up, eating, and playing with his toys,” Sherene Grindley told The Gleaner in an interview after her son’s surgery.
Grindley said that the operation went well but that she has no idea when Mickele would be leaving the hospital.
“The initial surgery took place last Saturday, but he will be undergoing further operations.
“I am l ooking forward to having back my son,” Grindley said on Tuesday.
She expressed gratitude to the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers who are tending to Mickele.
“To God be the glory. It is a great thing He (God) has done,” she said.
Grindley said that the doctors and nurses have been very professional.
“I am really in a good place,” she told The Gleaner.
In an interview with ABC News, the doctor said that US$250,000 was raised to bring Mickele and his mother to the United States for the operation.
Saturday’s surgery lasted nine hours.
“He had 50 to 60 per cent of his scalp torn away, most of his forehead and left ear, and part
of his left cheek,” said Dr Evan Garfein, chief of plastic surgery at the Montefiore Children Hospital.
Mickele will be doing further surgery, including skin graft and reconstruction.
It will be a l ong haul for Mickele before he will be released from the hospital.
“I am so very happy,” said his mother.
Grindley also thanked the Bustamante Hospital for Children, t he St Ann’s Bay Hospital, and Alexandria Hospital for saving her son’s life.
The Northeast Diaspora Health Committee has also reached out to assist Grindley.
Even with Mickele facing further surgery, his mother is just happy to have her son alive.
“I want to thank God for all His blessings,” she said.