Monique Hepburn, Staff Reporter
Sharon Lakin displays a belt she has used to restrain her husband during one of his pyschotic rages. - PHOTO BY MONIQUE HEPBURN
WESTERN BUREAU:
A NEGRIL woman who claims her husband is a dangerous psychotic requiring commitment in a secure mental institution, is now at odds with Westmoreland health authorities after refusing to collect him from the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital.
Wilbern Earl, a 53-year-old labourer, farmer and fisherman of Negril, was diagnosed with a debilitating illness in 2004 and has been in the hospital since Monday.
His wife, Sharon Lakin, a 51-year-old resident of West End, told The Gleaner yesterday that the disease is eating away at her husband's brain.
She said the illness has rendered him a dangerous psychotic who has attacked her several times in her home.
The Gleaner news team visited her home in the resort town Monday, where she has been holed up with a family friend for a week. Several locks secured the door and her windows were covered with thick upholstery, with a small space left out for a makeshift peephole.
"I was called by the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital (Monday) morning and told that if I do not come for my husband, they will take legal action," explained Ms. Lakin between sobs.
THREATENED TO JUMP OFF ROOF
"They told me that he was on the roof threatening to jump off the roof. How can they let a man like that on the street?" she asked.
Sister Audrey Grant, acting chief executive officer at the hospital, confirmed that Mr. Earl was in the institution's care but had been discharged.
"He broke off the locks and was on the roof but he is now safe and the doctors are dealing with it. I am at home and cannot comment further on the matter," she said.
According to Ms. Lakin, her local doctor conducted numerous blood tests that have confirmed his condition, which has been backed by a European specialist who theorised he may have contracted the disease congenitally or during his early 20s.
"So far, everyone has told me that he belongs in a nursing home but he needs to be in a locked medical facility. He is going to kill me if I bring him back. He has had 13 seizures in one day and has had two strokes. He cannot go to the bathroom by himself," she said.
The couple met in 1992 and married in 2003. Ms. Lakin, a native of Maine in the United States, said her husband became ill eight months after the wedding and was nothing like the man he used to be. She said she received little help from his family, except for a brother who assists her regularly.
