If your grandparents are still alive - you may want to hug them a little tighter after seeing this next story.
84-year-old Rupert Latchman was once a body builder, but now he and his wife, 78-year-old Dora Latchman, are living in dire conditions with no food, drinking water, clothes, or even a decent home. Rupert has trouble walking, and tries his best to take care of Dora, who is blind. This elderly couple has been abandoned, left to fend for themselves. And for them, that meant many hungry days and tearful nights. A concerned resident reached out to our newsroom, and Courtney Menzies went to visit their home on George Street. Here is that story.
At 10:30 this morning, it had been over 24 hours since Rupert and Dora Latchman had a meal. They were trying to keep their bellies full with rain water and Dora clutched the last bit of bread they had left.
This elderly couple has been living in poverty, unable to fend for themselves since Rupert is 84 and can barely walk and wife is 78 but completely blind.
And their home, which they rent, is overrun with garbage, flooded with water, and just plain filthy.
Starved, stressed, and basically abandoned, Rupert was relieved when we stopped by, hoping that this would be their chance to finally get some help.
Rupert Latchman - Needs Assistance
"We live by the grace of Jesus Christ every day because right now, we haven't eaten anything. And if this lady didn't come here, we might not have eaten either. But thank the lady that came here. The house, we live here 6 years and ten months, whenever it rain, it full with water, right now it have water, and we pay $175 a month. But this thing not even good for a hog. The landlord don't want to fix anything, all she want from us is the rent."
But the house may be the least of their problems, because the Latchman couple has no food, no appliances, and only the clothes on their backs literally.
Rupert Latchman
"I don't have any stove, any television, any radio, well no washing machine because I could wash from my hand. But I need help, anybody could me, with a dollar. I'll take from a quarter. Anybody could help me, come and help me and God will bless you. You see this short pants, I only have two, I don't have any shirt, she only have that dress you have on. You can't find anybody poor like we."
And without any underwear, soap, or toothpaste, it's hard for them to maintain their hygiene. In fact, this couple didn't even have drinking water.
But even so, Rupert refused to be helpless he needs help but he also wants to pay for it.
Rupert Latchman
"I would want a television, a stove, and a refrigerator, I could pay by the month because she gets money every money, I could pay it. So it wouldn't be the burden to them. All I want they get it for me and I pay for it."
Courtney Menzies
"But you'd also like, I would assume, a much better place to live."
Rupert Latchman
"You see this house? I could get this house in top shape you know, all I have to pay four cement block, block off the bathroom. I plan to paint the house. I could get this house in good shape. I want about 8 cement block, I need that."
So far, they've gotten some help from some church members, who provided a brand new bed for them. A member even offered to house Dora in Sandhill, but it's a hard decision to make, because she has been with her husband for half a century.
Rupert Latchman
"Before you born and he born, we've been together, from 1969. You weren't born yet. We've been together 1969 until now, 52 years. If I left her, she would fret, and if she left me, I would do the same thing. This is love."
And while they have love, they need a lot more to survive but for now, they're just asking for supper.
Rupert Latchman
"All we need, sponsor me a Klim, a two cheese ball, and a thing of milk, and a thing of bread, that's all we need, with a little bit of food so we could eat something this evening."
After the interview, our news team bought some basic groceries and lunch for the elderly couple. And in the afternoon, - though the home is in Queens Square - the area rep for adjacent Mesopotamia, Shyne Barrow, bought more groceries. He also hired some young men to clean the garbage from the yard. And he has committed to buying a small stove and refrigerator for the couple.
If anyone from the public would like to assist, the couple can be found at 104 George Street.
