(STORY UPDATE 2) : Overwhelming support for brave 19 y-o Shakera Facey...Rula Brown's effort for getting the original story out mentioned by JAMAICA OBSERVER...Story has gone viral to England, Canada, USA and beyond as a result, a reader has taken on the task of getting in touch with persons in Jamaica to ensure that all the proper documentations are speedily in place to fly Shakera to a hospital in Florida which has already agreed to take up the teen's case.

BY DONNA HUSSEY-WHYTE Sunday Observer staff reporter husseyd@jamaicaobserver.com

Hundreds of people in Jamaica and overseas have been lending their support to 19-year-old Shakera Facey, the young woman with the large tumour on her shoulder who was up to last week unsure of what it really was.

Shakera & Vincent Facey

Facey and her father Vincent, who hails from Redwood in Linstead, St Catherine have been receiving a number of phone calls from people showing an interest in assisting the teen to get back on her feet.

Those who said that they would like to contribute financially, have also been praying for her, and others who even put the wheels in motion in getting her overseas for treatment.

"When I read Shakera's story my heart went out to her," said one woman who called the Jamaica Observer from the United States. "To see that such a young girl has to be going through this, it must be very hard. But what I can't understand is why the doctors there are not doing anything about this," she lamented.

As a result, she has taken on the task of getting in touch with persons in Jamaica to ensure that all the proper documentations are speedily in place to fly Shakera to a hospital in Florida which has already agreed to take up the teen's case.

Others from the 'Help Us to Help You Foundation' in England have also reached out and are in touch with the teen's doctor to see how best they are able to contribute to her recovery.

There have been nearly 100 e-mails to the Sunday Observer, dozens of telephone calls and a number of messages posted on various Facebook pages and other social media by well-wishers.

Rula Brown from a radio show in Atlanta, Georgia interviewed both Shakera and her dad on air on Thursday and posted the Sunday Observer story to his Facebook network page reaching over 100,000 readers. "We have to work together in helping people. I thank the Observer for writing the story and for bringing this to the public's attention. I just want to make sure that we do all we can to help so I got an account number from her father and I will be directing persons who want to contribute to send money there. I want to ensure that we do it the right way."

Brown said that he is also making a radio commercial on the teen that will seep through 15 radio stations in the United States and beyond. more