Severely burnt teen desperate for financial, medical assistance
Published:Tuesday | June 20, 2023 | 1:04 AMAshley Anguin/Gleaner Writer
RUPHEMA DUNKLEY, a doting father from Burnt Savannah, St Elizabeth, is frustrated and desperately seeking financial assistance to get medical treatment overseas for his daughter, 14-year-old Ackalia Dunkley, who was severely burnt last Friday in a gas explosion at home where she lives with her grandmother.
The elder Dunkley, who was residing in Philadelphia in the United States at the time of the incident, was on the verge of tears as he told The Gleaner that he swiftly returned to Jamaica upon learning of his daughter’s horrific mishap.
“From Friday mi nuh sleep since I hear about the incident. I’m trying to obtain the medical report, but it’s taking a very long time, and it’s like it’s just holding up, and I don’t want her to stay and get worse,” the emotional Dunkley said.
“They called my daughter last night, because they didn’t have my local number, and they said her red (or white) blood count is dropping. I don’t want her to stay here and take time slowly until it infects her body or anything like that,” he added.
Currently the young teen is admitted in serious condition at a local medical facility where she is receiving treatment.
“I don’t talk to her since the incident, I try to talk to her, but she just opens her eyes,” Dunkley told The Gleaner.
Prior to the accident, their communication was different.
“We text and call every night, and I check on her before she goes to school, and when she leaves school, and during the night. We’re very close,” the father admitted.
Ackalia’s situation is eerily similar to that of 13-year-old Adrianna Laing, the teenager who suffered severe burns in a fire at her home in Springfield, Westmoreland, that claimed the lives of her seven-year-old twin siblings Jayden and Jorden Laing on September 4, 2022.
Following that incident, Adrianna had to be transported overseas for 18 life-saving surgeries, and a GoFundMe account was subsequently created to provide additional assistance for her recovery.
Now, in a similar turn of events nine months later, a GoFundMe account has been created to help in raising US$45,000 for young Ackalia to assist in her being airlifted to seek treatment at the Joseph M Still Burn Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
Shamalia Dunkley, Ackalia’s older sister, described the situation as being very difficult to cope with.
“Ever since the incident happen, I barely get any sleep. Anytime I close my eyes, all I can picture is her on the hospital bed with her face swollen and it bring tears to my eyes,” the elder Dunkley sibling told The Gleaner.
Ackalia, who is in seventh grade at the Black River High School, was preparing for school at approximately 5:45 on Friday morning when the incident happened.
“She caught fire in her uniform which burned on her and stuck on her skin. I heard she was putting things together to get some tea, and she turned on the stove and left to go to the bathroom and came back,” her father Ruphema explained.
“Meanwhile, the stove went out but the burner was still on. Then she came back and felt that it was out, so she then clicked the next burner and it just exploded on her,” the father added, with pain in his voice.
The 14-year-old is described by her family as very talented. Having taught herself the Korean and Japanese languages, she also wants to become an architect. If that does not work out, she has aspirations of becoming a model.
Stephen Josephs, project manager at Sanmerna Foundation which has joined the recovery efforts, stated that the teen is a fighter.
“Time is running out and her condition is very bad. She has third degree burns so I am appealing to the diaspora, the entire Jamaica to please assist in any way that you can. She is holding on, so let us give her a chance to live,” Josephs pleaded.
If you want to assist Ackalia Dunkley, please contact her father, Ruphema Dunkley, at 876-788-1225 or 1-267-383-5089.
Account details: C&W J Co-operative Credit Union, Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth
Name: Ruphema Dunkley
Member#: 6517978
Account#: 0015