Shaliser Theodore, the San Juan mother of two who fought unsuccessfully to save her nine-year-old son Hezekiah from a raging bush fire, has succumbed to burn injuries at the San Fernando General Hospital.
Theodore had clawed her way through burning bush trying to find Hezekiah on Wednesday, after he disappeared amidst the thick clouds of smoke which billowed on the hilltop at Febeau Village, San Juan, threatening homes and lives.
Her one-year-old daughter Rukeia Bruce was rescued from the flames by villager Phillip Jones and his brother Jeremiah.
On Wednesday night, Theodore died from the burn injuries she sustained in her desperate attempt to save her eldest child.
In an interview yesterday, Theodore’s aunt Nicolette said the woman was trying to rebuild her life and had made a commitment to take better care of her children.
“She wanted to be a better mother. Her daughter Rukeia used to live with my sister Ann Marie and for some time, her son Hezekiah used to stay at a boys’ home in Diego Martin. Shaliser wanted to have her children with her and she decided to reconstruct her life,” Nicolette told the T&T Guardian.
She added that a relative who lives in the United States gave Theodore permission to stay at his home in San Juan so she could be with her children.
“This Easter she moved in and she was happy to be with them,” Nicolette revealed.
She also said Theodore and her sister Jiselle Bruce had a hard life after their father Norris Theodore died more than a decade ago. Their mother had abandoned them and on his death bed Norris asked his sisters, Ann Marie and Nicolette, to take care of his daughters. Bruce died last November from cancer.
“We like to think that Norris called them both back home. We are grateful that we have Rukeia and we will try our best to raise her properly,” Nicolette said. She added that she felt comforted knowing that Theodore had the opportunity to be with her children before she and Hezekiah died.
“The Lord knows best. All we can do now is make sure that we care for Shaliser’s daughter,” Nicolette said. She explained that Theodore and her son will be cremated at the Long Circular crematorium next Thursday once autopsies on the remains are completed.
Four people have died because of bush fires over the past week. Forestry worker Keith Campbell 56, succumbed to injuries he sustained during a forest fire on March 25 at Lady Chancellor Hill, St Ann’s. Two days later, Sowdgan Rajnauth, 92, of Rio Claro, also died after his son Israel Khan crashed his car. Khan said he was blinded by smoke caused by a raging bush fire.