Urgent Medical Help for Aimée in Puerto Rico

Hello dear friends, loved ones, and well-wishers. Hello everyone who happens past this story, and welcome. Thank you for your attention. My name is Aimée, pronounced A-MAY, but most people call me AMY.

In my 48 years, I’ve done many things, including raising 4 extraordinary humans (my greatest accomplishments forever), serving as a nuclear propulsion chemist for 8 years in the US Navy, and also serving as a Director of Nursing in my most recent years. Those careers spanned 26 years where I lived, worked, learned, and grew in the United States. Also during those years, I experienced my fair share of challenges, poverty, single-parenthood, and of course, gender-based violence in all its insidious forms.

In 2020, my soul was led back to Dominica, the country that raised me, and the place I love more than any other. I left comfort and luxury to come work for and with the country I love. Patriotism runs deep in our family; my father had also served in the US military and then returned to Dominica to work for his country. The country I left at 18 was not the same one that I returned to at 45. I quickly learned that this society is dangerous for women.

On Christmas Day 2022, I was punched on the right temple by an ex-intimate partner. The blow caused immediate swelling and damage to my head, but Dominica is not equipped to deal with neuro trauma. My visit to the hospital gave no information about what happened to my brain. Almost 2 years after this, while the man who did it was never held accountable, I have to travel urgently to Puerto Rico for urgent medical care because last Friday I began having symptoms of a stroke. There are no MRI machines that are operable on Dominica, and no neurologists. I have been to the hospital twice concerning my symptoms, with no one able to diagnose or treat whatever is causing this sharp decline in my health.

This situation was not planned for, and if you live on Dominica, you know how difficult it is to have finances “saved for a rainy day.” Hence, this GoFundMe. We are looking at 2 weeks plus in PR and my husband is with me; we will have to pay for transport, food, and accommodation for an unknown period of time. I know it is the Christmas season and finances are tight, but I must ask anyway. I appreciate anything you can give, even just love, prayers, and thoughts as we navigate this new stage in our lives.

With Love,

Aimée