Decontee Sawyer, widow of late Liberian-American Patrick
Sawyer, has responded to stinging criticism of her explanations on why her
husband travelled to Nigeria, saying her intention was not to defend her
husband’s action. Sawyer’s travel to Nigeria, despite the orders of Liberian
authorities against it, is responsible for Nigeria’s share of a viral disease
that has claimed more than 1,350 lives in West Africa.
Mrs Sawyer then wrote
a letter saying her husband travelled to Nigeria to get help because of the
poor healthcare in Liberia. But in her latest public comment, she has
apologised to Nigerians, revealing that Patrick had since abandoned her and
their three children for a new wife in Liberia after securing a plum job in the
West African country. “Patrick and I have been separated (not yet divorced) for
the past one year and seven months. He left me when I was seven months pregnant
with our third child. We already had a three-year-old and a four-year-old
together, with a third on the way,” she explained in a letter to Nigerian
blogger Peace Ben Williams. “He left us all and started a new family in
Liberia.
I was left by myself to now raise three children alone, one
of which (my 3-year-old at the time) was diagnosed with autism. That in itself
was a challenge (and still is). Patrick left us, and he never turned back. “We
only communicated occasionally regarding our children. I was under so much
emotional stress during my labour that I almost lost my last child, Bella.
Thank God she is now a healthy 18-month-old girl. Patrick and I now have a
six-year-old, a five-year-old, and an 18-month-old together (all girls).
He and his mistress
have a two-year-old daughter together in Liberia. They lived together in the
house that he and I built together. Can you believe the idiot named the child
he had with his mistress after me?” Decontee described her estranged husband as
a confused and troubled man. “The man was deeply confused and troubled. So, my
dear, my letter I wrote was not to defend my husband (the man that abandoned me
with two small children while I was pregnant for the third).
My letter was to
shine light on the beyond-broken healthcare system and bad governance of
Liberia under President Sirleaf and previous presidents. “Ebola didn’t start
with Patrick in Liberia, as we both know. Ebola was in Liberia from a traveller
from Guinea since February of this year. The government knew about it and did
nothing. Many Liberians, including myself, called out to the government then to
close the borders.
They didn’t do so until one of their own, Patrick, died in
July. “Many people died before Patrick and their lives were just as important.
That is my frustration. Ebola didn’t have to go to Nigeria, Africa’s most
populated country, had the Liberian government taken drastic actions sooner. I
too, have family members and friends in Nigeria, and now they are at risk
because of Patrick’s actions. In spite of my anger and disappointment with him,
I don’t believe that he did this with evil intent (I could be wrong). I believe
his actions were that of a desperate man. And sad for everyone involved,
Nigeria was closer than the US.
This is just my take on what he could have been thinking (of
course, I could be wrong). “My regret is that I was so caught up in my own pain
and frustration that I neglected to see the pain of the innocent people both in
Liberia and Nigeria who are affected by Patrick’s actions. For that, I am
deeply sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was to cause them pain. It is a
pain I know. It is a pain I don’t want them to have. The interesting thing is,
I didn’t even know Patrick was in Nigeria until my sister living in Boston
(USA) told me the day before he died. “Patrick barely talked with me. He was
too busy being a Liberian government big shot.
Power, if not used to glorify God, can bring down a nation.
It brought down my family. I finally had a lawyer in Liberia serve Patrick with
divorce papers exactly a week before he died. He never signed it. Now I’m left
as his widow taking the heat while his mistress sits in peace. I just read your
open letter this morning. “I cannot apologise for Patrick’s actions because I
didn’t cause them. He did a lot of things I didn’t like; going to Nigeria was
one of them. His act was one of a desperate man.
Many Nigerians and
Liberians are affected because of that act of desperation. I want to reach out
to them and express how deeply saddened and sorry I am for their loss and their
pain. I do apologize if my words have cost anyone who is grieving more pain. I
fall on my knees and ask God for his healing power for all of those who are
still infected with Ebola.
I pray for all of the
families whose loved ones were taken away by this merciless killer Ebola,
especially those affected by Patrick’s actions. I pray for the people of
Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. “I pray for the people of Africa.
We are all affected by Ebola. It will take all of us working together to
eradicate Ebola. Ebola must go, and we must kick it out together. The God in me
wouldn’t allow me to go and hide. He strengthens me to stay and fight. I’m
fighting to help bring aid to my brothers and sisters in Africa. “I am
committed to this fight. But I cannot do it by myself. I need all of your help.
The good people of the world, not just Africa, need to come
together, and fight together. We can either do it together or win, or we can
tear one another down and lose. This is not just my fight, or Africa’s fight.
This is the world’s fight. Thank you and God bless you all.”
CREDIT: www.thecable.ng

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