South suburban Chicago woman welcomed home after being stranded in Jamaica without medication
Residents and local leaders from Chicago's south suburbs held a big welcome home party Sunday for a woman who had been stranded in Jamaica without her lifesaving medication after Hurricane Melissa ravaged the island nation.
The celebration for Trinette Britt-Johnson, 58, was held at the Rich Township offices Sunday morning.
"I am grateful to God to be here, to be home, to be safe, and to be alive," Britt-Johnson said Sunday.
In 2024, Britt-Johnson received a kidney transplant, after being diagnosed with a rare kidney disease years earlier. Two months ago, she was given clearance to travel, and she and her husband decided to go to Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Britt-Johnson was left stranded after Hurricane Melissa hit. The storm was so strong that it shut down airports in the Caribbean.
Local hospitals were unable to provide the medication that Britt-Johnson needed to support her kidney function.
Britt-Johnson works as chief of staff for Rich Township Supervisor Calvin Jordan. But she credited Cook County Commissioner Dr. Kisha McCaskill (D-5th) with helping to bring her medication and arrange for her flight home.
"I want people to know that it wasn't just about me. When God says, 'Faith of a mustard seed,'" McCaskill said. "I didn't know what those calls would produce, but I knew I had to call somebody and do something, because if it were me, I would want someone to come and get me also."
Medical experts said Jamaican hospitals rarely perform such transplants, making it difficult for patients like Britt-Johnson to access the medication she needed.