BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IT was a moment of indescribable emotion for Andrea Henry when she rushed into the Accident and Emergency Ward at the JNF General Hospital to meet her bloody and battered 13-year old son who was brutally attacked Monday (Aug. 31).
Dominique Henry, the oldest of her three sons, was the victim of a gruesome encounter in which an individual, believed to be a minor, attacked him with a sharp object in his Sandy Point home. A bloody struggle followed causing Dominique to receive multiple stab wounds to the back, chest and face and a final slit of the throat before the attacker fled the scene.
In a desperate struggle to save his life, Dominique ran westward and collapsed at a neighbour’s residence. Still grappling with the resultant trauma, he is now warded at JNF General Hospital to recover from a collapsed lung, slit throat and multiple stab wounds.
Speaking exclusively to SKNVibes, Andrea attempted to word the emotions she experienced when she received news of her son’s near-fatal attack.
“I was shocked. It was traumatic for me. This took a real toll on me both emotionally and physically because when you love your son and you expect to meet him, news like this could just break you up. Suppose I had reached and I met my son dead in my house?” she slowly stated, stopping short of breaking into tears.
She said that she has never received any reports of her son being involved in drugs, gang-related activity or violent acts against anyone, but did state that he was constantly being attacked as a “victim of the community”.
“I want the public to know that he went through a traumatic thing as recent as last year, and a chain of these reactions [has followed]. The offender is trying to make my son’s life as miserable and unhappy [as possible], but by God’s grace he would make it,” she said.
In May 2008, Dominique was allegedly victimized in a way that caused him emotional trauma and instability, and according to his mother it had a severely adverse effect on his life.
She disclosed that his grades at school had plummeted to an all-time low and his confidence was shattered. The case to address Dominique’s 2008 victimization was slated to be heard in the upcoming September assizes.
When asked to indicate what she thought the possible motive for Monday’s attack could be, she explained that while there is a possibility that it was associated with the High Court case, she did not want to be too judgemental.
“It’s so disheartening at this time when I had already been seeing a vast improvement in his academics and his confidence and emotions. I felt like he was coming along. The devil just comes and uses all kinds of avenues to get at the progress,” Andrea said.
“At this point, he is in a traumatic position mentally. He has, in a small and light way, explained to me that he has no interest of going back to the house and he doesn’t wish to be in St. Kitts any longer.”
The mother of three repeatedly called for justice to be served so that her son, or any other victim, does not have to be subjected to such violent attacks ever again. She demanded that the matters be dealt with expeditiously, and stressed that “justice must, will and shall be served without fear or favour”.
The outcome, according to Andrea, would be a lesson for individuals experiencing similar attacks.
“This justice will also help others to come forward—all those who are victims behind closed doors…let this be a learning lesson that in this day and age, let them know that victims have rights also and must be treated and accepted as humans.”
Until justice is served, encouragement and prayers from family, friends and the church have been able to keep Andrea strong. She said she holds faith that Dominique too will remain strong and stay true to the meaning of his name: ‘Belonging to the Lord’.
