Hurricane Melissa: Sickle cell teen trapped 'in pain for a week' rescued after life-saving actions by advocate
Jenica Leah, 36, who moved to Jamaica from Birmingham made a life-saving call to get help sent to Joel Wynter who was left stranded in a storm beaten church where his family took refuge
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Hurricane Melissa - Sickle cell teen trapped ‘in pain for a week’ rescued after life-saving actions by advocate
STORY BY ARIKE IDRIS
NOVEMBER 18, 2025 UPDATED 16.02
Jenica Leah who suffered a stroke at the age of 13 from sickle cell complications says she was ‘relieved’ when 14-year-old Joel was rescued
A British Jamaican woman says she was “relieved” after a life-saving phone call she made led to the rescue of an ailing teenager left without medication for a week following Hurricane Melissa.
The catastrophic Category 5 storm made landfall in Jamaica on October 28 as the second strongest ever in the Atlantic on record, leaving 45 people dead, 15 missing and 30,000 displaced on the island so far.
According to the Jamaica Star, sickle cell sufferer Joel Wynter, 14, was left stranded and rapidly deteriorating without pain relief inside the storm beaten All Souls Anglican Church where his family took refuge in St Elizabeth located in the southwest of the country.
Sickle cell predominantly affects people of African and African-Caribbean origin and is the world’s most common inherited blood disorder.
The disease produces unusually shaped red blood cells and can lead to extreme pain known as a sickle cell crisis, which can be fatal.
Following intense rainfall, Joel reportedly found himself fighting for his life against an agonising sickle cell episode which can be triggered by trauma, dehydration as well as hot and cold temperatures – all of which were exacerbated by Hurricane Melissa.
But after reading a story by The Jamaica Star appealing for urgent help for the boy, Jenica Leah, 36, a sickle cell sufferer and advocate for those with the disease swiftly jumped into action posting on social media to see if anyone could assist.
She says the Jamaica Defence Force got in touch with her an intervened and within 24 hours, help reached the teenager and his life was saved.
Speaking exclusively to The Source, Jenica said: “I had to do something.
“I posted on social media with my personal number to contact to see if anyone could help and within the hour, I had people calling me.
“I was relieved [when Joel was rescued], but also even more concerned about the safety of other patients and how they are struggling.
“If the journalist didn’t write about Joel, no one would have known how bad he was and been able to help.”
With 18,000 Jamaicans currently living with sickle cell, Jenica who suffered a stroke at the age of 13 from complications with the disease says the ‘hurricane is a crisis trigger’ and that others who may be in the same position still can’t be reached.
Following Hurricane Melissa, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the country a “disaster area” but now three weeks on, homes remain submerged under flood waters, power outages have kept communities in darkness and many are still unable to reunite with their loved ones.
But as efforts to respond to the needs of survivors continue to evolve, Jenica says that following Joel’s rescue, mobile medical units have now been deployed by the Jamaican government with the National Health Fund distributing pharmacist teams across communities daily to ensure essential medication is given to people living with chronic illnesses.
The advocate who set up a sickle cell charity My Friend Jen said: “What triggers a sickle cell crisis was literally what [sickle cell sufferers] would be living through.
“Hurricane Melissa is literally a crisis trigger.
“The minute that I started to see what the aftermath was, my immediate thought was about people with sickle cell and vulnerable adults who have chronic illnesses.
“My brain was just thinking all the time, ‘what’s going to happen?’”
The founder who has written a book about her experience of the disease by the same name as her charity says that soon after the hurricane left, she was messaging contacts across the globe for a plan of action to provide aid.
Her organisation is now also accepting donations in the UK which can be given at the Legacy Centre of Excellence in Birmingham and the Brixton Soup Kitchen in London, according to the GoFundMe she launched.
The founder added that she hopes the disaster can bring more awareness to the disease and the importance of swift intervention for patients in Jamaica and worldwide.
She said: “Advocacy over here is very collaborative. Our charity partners Shak’s Hope Foundation and Warriors Unite had a meeting along with the Sickle Cell Trust, the Sickle Cell Unit in Kingston, the Caribbean Institute for Health and Research, and they are also connected with the Ministry of Health.
“We broke those actions and those steps down into immediate relief efforts and long-term efforts.”
However, despite providing relief in the aftermath of the hurricane, Jenica says she feels a sense of guilt for still having a roof over her house when others have had theirs been ripped off by the storm.
Jenica said: “Seeing what I saw the first time, I haven’t been back out into the affected areas because I was too emotional.
“I felt guilty of being upset that I could go back to my house. I still have a roof. I see people and I only give them enough food to last a week and to keep warm, as well as medication.
“They don’t have anywhere that they can go. I just felt even more helpless. There are complete communities underwater.”
The 36-year-old says she has not experienced any family loss as a result of the hurricane but is still waiting to hear from two family friends to confirm they are safe.
But overall, Jenica hopes to raise enough funds specifically for those with sickle cell affected by the hurricane and is determined to continue to “fight” for sufferers of the disease.
She said: “The aftermath of Hurricane Melissa has definitely made me more mentally willing to fight the fight, with all of these industry people, and to ensure people with sickle cell are not forgotten and are acknowledged how they should be, and are treated how they should be.
“It’s been a lot of kind of self-reflection, but also the fact that I wasn’t heavily impacted [makes me want] to ensure that I can get help to those that were.”
For more information about what can be donated and the GoFundMe - click here.