‘I went home to die’

NEW YORK:

Tameka Cooke spent two and a half years shuttling between homeless shelters in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx in New York and survived domestic violence and hunger all while battling a rare cancer.

Today, Cooke has her own apartment, is studying political science at Lehman College and is an advocate for victims of domestic violence and the homeless, and for better protection for immigrants.

“I am doing much better now,” she told The Gleaner as she reflected on her own journey, “I hope to pursue a law degree in the near future and I continue to advocate for people who have experiences like I did.”

Now in her 40s, Cooke said that she owes the turnaround in her life to the Floating Hospital with which she connected while in a homeless shelter in Queens.

Her journey began in Kingston, Jamaica, where she was born. She attended Alexander Prep, Mountain View Primary and, later, Wolmer’s High School for Girls.

At age 18, she was diagnosed with a rare adrenal cancer. She said she sought and received treatment in Jamaica, but was not satisfied with how she was being treated.

She further disclosed that while at work one day, she slipped on a wet floor and broke her arm. The arm was not properly set and she still has issues with it.

While trying to access cancer treatment in Jamaica, she was invited by a friend to visit the United States to seek care.

In 2004, she went and would spend the next two years travelling between Jamaica and the United States for treatment until the cancer began taking its toll and she could no longer travel.

“I went home to die,” she said, having found out that her cancer was at stage 4.

In 2009, Cooke had a daughter and later, a friend living in the United States told her that if she could get to the US, the trip could be life-saving.

“I did not like what I had seen of the United States during my travels back and forth for treatment, so I was hesitant,” she told The Gleaner.

Homeless shelter

However, when she received an airline ticket in 2018 to travel to the US, she went to New York to seek treatment, spending more than a month in hospital.

“It was rough because while here, I got stranded and overstayed, becoming undocumented. I was sick, had no food, and became homeless,” she said.

During all of this, her daughter was living in Jamaica, but she was later informed that the person taking care of the girl could no longer do so.

She put together the necessary funds to have her daughter join her in the United States in March 2018.

“Things got so bad that my child was sleeping in the hospital bed while I was hospitalised,” she said.

Tameka and her daughter were placed in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn, but the conditions were less than ideal. They later moved to a shelter in Queens, where she made contact with the Floating Hospital, which would transport her to and from treatment and give her other assistance.

During this time, Cooke got married, but a rocky relationship caused her to move to another shelter in the Bronx.

The Floating Hospital continued to assist her with transportation to and from her appointments.

“At the clinic, they treated me with dignity and respect. Coming to the clinic, the doctors did everything to understand my disease,” she told The Gleaner.

She was referred to other doctors and got connected to various cancer specialists.

She hails the Floating Hospital as her safe place, noting that it guided her and gave her focus to put her life back together.

Sharing her experiences and journey, Cooke was one of a number of patients who helped the Floating Hospital to secure funding for specialised programmes to help people transition from shelters to a path of stability through a life-skills counselling programme, which helps women with complex housing, insurance applications, school enrolments, and link up to supportive benefits.

Her life has completely turned around, although she still battles cancer.

“They saved my life,” she said.

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