Cudjoe assures Baptiste to return home Monday

SPECIAL Olympics TT (SOTT) athlete Shanice Baptiste’s ticket is booked for her return home on Monday at approximately 5 pm, four days after initially planned.

Baptiste was unable to return home with the SOTT team last week because of asthma, which she picked up shortly after her arrival in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), for the Special Olympics 2019 World Games, which she was unable to compete in.

She was then scheduled to leave UAE yesterday, but for another delay caused by a lack of an adequate supply of oxygen at Gatwick Airport, London, her last stop before Trinidad.

The oxygen is a precaution for her flight.

At a post-Cabinet press briefing Cudjoe said, "All the expenses are being paid for by the Abu Dhabi officials because this is the Special Olympics and they have insurance and necessary arrangements just in case something goes wrong. There is a new date for the flight...the officials would have made arrangements so that the oxygen apparatus could be in place for the lst (of April), so we expect Shanice to fly home on the 1st."

Baptiste’s doctor at the Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi also declared she was too weak to travel yesterday. Baptiste’s condition has since improved and she is off oxygen, said SOTT chairwoman Candilla Berment-Harper in a brief interview yesterday.

“I spoke with them at 6.43 this morning, and they are fine now. They have their tickets in hand already and are ready to come home,” said Berment-Harper.

Baptiste is walking around and no longer receiving oxygen as part of her treatment and recovery, Berment-Harper added.

She will arrive with not only SOTT coach Clevanic Cupid, who stayed with her throughout the ordeal, but also an Emirati medical professional based in the hospital where she is warded.

The gracious act has come at no cost to Baptiste or to the SOTT, Berment-Harper said, adding that their courtesies will be extended all the way to Baptiste’s final ambulance trip.

Asked about the cause of her illness Berment-Harper said she was uncertain but believed Baptiste’s asthmatic condition was a contributing factor, if not the cause.

She and other SOTT officials believe a considerable variation in climatic conditions from TT to the UAE likely played a role in Baptiste’s sudden health issue.

Baptiste, who lives at Whiteland, near Williamsville, fell ill and was hospitalised shortly after she touched down with 32 other athletes at the Special Olympics 2019 World Games. The team came in for high praise for their historic medal haul of 57 medals.

The excitement was apparently followed by the spread of false reports by a small sector of the public, regarding Baptiste’s health condition and the assertion that she was left behind by SOTT.

Berment-Harper said she was disheartened by the spread of such negative rumours, which could have lasting and adverse consequences for none more than the athletes themselves.

SOTT issued a statement via its Facebook page on Wednesday with an update on Baptiste’s condition, and asked the public not to share unsubstantiated information.

“It is very unfortunate that in the midst of Shanice's already difficult situation, there is an influx of misinformation, which can only add to her and her family's discomfort.

“We do hope that anyone who continues to feed into this will stop doing so immediately. Please stay tuned to our facebook page for further updates,” the post read.

Baptiste is a food and nutrition student at the National Centre for Persons with Disabilities. She has a hearing impediment and is a slow learner.