A FATHER’S PLEA
Donald Palmer has not seen his children in six years, not since he was deported to Jamaica in 2011 for a crime he said he did not commit. Palmer, who shared his story with the Sunday Gleaner on July 10, 2011, under the caption ‘A Deportee’s Nightmare’, said this Christmas season is the worst for him. This, he said, is because his seven-year-old daughter was bullied and nearly died as a result and he can’t even be there in person to offer comfort. “It’s not a good feeling at this time of the year to know that I am here in Jamaica sitting down for something I wasn’t involved with in the first place.” Palmer said he is feeling very emotional and in a lot of pain right now, especially as his child’s mother keeps relaying to him how much his daughter is asking for him. “The doctors, the counsellor at the hospital, everyone, asking where is the father and saying I need to be there as a lot of stuff is involved,” said Palmer, who wants nothing more than a waiver to be granted and he would be satisfied with a visitor’s visa to be with his family for short spells. His daughter, Khylyn Duboise – a third grader, was being bullied at her school in Rochester, New York. The bullying culminated in her brush with death on December 18 when four girls – three of whom are older – bullied her on the bus, pulling her hair, hitting her and forcing her to sit under the seat on the bus.
VERY SCARED
They ended up forcing her to swallow a battery the size of a penny. Her distraught mother, Kelly Duboise, told THE STAR that it is by the grace of God that her daughter is with them today. “She came home looking very scared and I didn’t know what was going on. She said she swallowed a battery after being forced. She was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late to prevent the effect of the battery being in her body. “It tore up her oesophagus, leaked acid to her pancreas and was causing burning sensation in her chest area. The doctors said that, fortunately for her, they got it out in time or she would have died in less than two hours,” said a shaken Duboise. She is now on medication and not going to school as her mother is afraid of sending her back. According to her, Khylyn was being abused at school and nothing was done about it. No one assisted on the bus when the incident took place, and she hasn’t heard about any disciplinary measures with the students involved. “I so wish her father was here right now. She keeps asking for him. They speak a lot on Facetime, but with her going through this...” Palmer, who said he is feeling hopeless, is comparing himself to Daniel in the Lion’s den and Jesus being crucified. “Although no fault was found in Jesus, the crowd still wanted him to be crucified. I feel like that now. I wasn’t guilty, but I am still being crucified,” he said, adding that he is hoping the US Embassy will revisit his case and make his Christmas wish come through.