'God blessed that child': Mom of boys rescued from oil seep

DURING the rescue of her two sons, who sank in an oil seep at Point Fortin, their mother turned to her faith and prayed non-stop for God to grant her a miracle.

After about an hour and a half, her prayers seemed to have paid off.

"I prayed and prayed as they were rescuing my children," said Frederica Hodge. "I kept asking God to spare their lives, and he did grant me a miracle. God blessed that child (13-year-old Darold Clarke). He saved his brother while risking his own life and was very calm during the ordeal."

The mother of four, a Spiritual Baptist, repeatedly thanked God and all the people who saved her sons on Wednesday from being swallowed alive by the oil seep in the forest off Techier Road, Egypt Village.

Had it not been for God and her son Darold, she would have lost his brother Adiel Cyrus, 12, she said.

"It was like the pitch sucking the lives out of them. Darold went to save Adiel and he kept saying he could not leave his brother there. Darold was holding up Adiel’s head from going down. He was calm although half of his body was in the oil."

Adiel was not calm: he kept crying out for help as his brother prevented him from being totally submerged.

"As the people were trying to pull them out, Adiel looked at me and said, 'Mammy, help me, I go dead!'

"All this time, Darold was calm.

"God spared them and somehow the oil released the hold on them. God is good to them. They are partners in crime. Villagers came out and really helped out."

The boys, who attend a nearby primary school, were discharged from the San Fernando General Hospital on Thursday evening .

Their stepfather Kenneth Small, who was among the rescuers, was partially submerged while trying to save them. He too is out of hospital.