BY RENAE DIXON Sunday Observer staff reporter dixonr@jamaicaobserver.com Sunday, September 14, 2014
IT is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but for Paula Gayle, a picture will tell of the distress that she has faced in recent times.
Gayle, who was once called 'Fatty', is now slender, not because she has been exercising or dieting, but according to her, it is because of the many problems that she has been facing in recent times.
When Paula Gayle told her story to the Jamaica Observer in April of this year, she thought that things could not have got any worse.
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| These suitcases contain items which Gayle said she did not get to sell. She said that the suitcases were destroyed by policemen who tried to get her to stay off the streets, during a period of alleged abuse by the lawmen. (AT RIGHT) Gayle sits on a sofa in the house she is expected to leave soon. |
"Since the last time you (Jamaica Observer) take my picture mi lose about 20 pounds," she said when the Sunday Observer visited her home recently.
In a story carried by this newspaper on April 27, 2014, Gayle claimed that a series of incidents started in her life after she made a report to the police about a prominent community person. After making the report, Gayle said that her life was made miserable by the police, along with several other persons.
She said that reports were made to various organisations, but little or nothing has been done in most cases to address her problems. That was when she turned to the Jamaica Observer again. Many condemned what she faced, while several others even offered to help in whatever way that they could. However, that lasted only for a short while and Gayle is again facing desperate times. She said that several organisations have said that they were investigating her plight; however, she needs immediate assistance.
The visually impaired Gayle's latest plea for help comes after she was served notice while in hospital with a broken leg, to vacate the property that she has called home for over 20 years.
On August 1, Gayle, who lost her vision due to other illnesses, among them high blood pressure, fell and broke her leg while carrying water from a community pipe to her home.
"Mi have to walk go to the pipe," she said. A drum she had at her house was stolen and she has been unable to get water from a tank at home because a ladder that she used to access the tank was also stolen.
"Mi drop off the driveway and break mi left ankle," she told the Sunday Observer.
She has since been summoned to court and was set to make her first appearance on September 3, but was unable to and got another court date for October 15.
"While in the hospital mi call the Poor Relief officer and tell her mi foot broke. She say all right, she coming to look for me," Gayle said. more
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