BY KAVELLE ANGLIN-CHRISTIE, Staff Reporter
Former dancehall queen Shanique Taylor receiving a prize from Byron McIntyre, a branch manager with Red Label Wine at last year's competition. - CONTRIBUTED
IT WAS AN acute skin disease that led to the death of dancehall queen, Shanique Taylor, doctors say. Her last days were painful as she rotted away.
While some members of the dancehall queen's family insist that obeah was the cause, doctors that were involved with treating her told THE STAR she had Pemphigus, an acute inflammatory disease.
"She won the dancehall queen competition some time in August and then in November she did two shows in Canada and then she came back. Then in the last week of November she started crying out for her foot. She saw some pimples between her toes and we took her to the doctor and he was saying that it is athlete's foot. But we were saying athlete's foot is not like that, with pus coming out and that sort of thing," said her step-father, Alvin Martin.
ALL OVER BODY PAIN
Martin says they visited the doctor in the second week of December and continued to visit, but he says his daughter's condition only got worse: "Then it started to spread and we were trying our own thing, but then the bumps started to burst and it got worse. In her mouth started to look like when you mix flour fi make fritters ... then after a while she started to feel pain all over her body. She was slipping away so fast."
The family continued to visit the doctors and do tests: "We run every kind of test, down to AIDS test and it keep on coming back negative. Them say dem can't find anything wrong with her and she kept getting worse..It affect me so badly that I don't even like to talk about it. It was stressful. In three or four months she just slip way like that...If you look at my daughter you just couldn't believe. We had to start using jeyes on her because of the cut dem. Dem use to tek fly and maggot and no matter how we dress it and clean dem all two three times a day is still the same thing," he said.
DOCTORS SAY OTHERWISE
When THE STAR spoke with the doctors who requested anonymity, they said while she tested negative for HIV, the tests revealed that she had Pemphigus. They say the disease causes blisters and severe lesions, including warts and crusts on the skin. The disease is not hereditary.
Though the disease has a very low mortality rate and can be treated, according to the doctor: "If you knew how she looked, you would not be surprised that she died. There were huge legions that went all the way to her ribs, the sores were so many and when we first saw her she could not open her eyes and mouth. It is a very dangerous and serious condition," said one of the doctors.
The doctor disregarded the family's belief that Taylor's death was caused by 'obeah': "No one can do this to anyone, this is how the disease comes and it is a very serious condition."
The doctor referred the team to the skin specialist who dealt with Taylor's case. Though the skin specialist was unwilling to comment on Taylor's case without permission from the hospital, she said the disease can be induced by drugs, thus giving some level of credence to the family's claim that she had been maliciously given something to drink.
"There are quite a few drugs out there that can be used on the person and the person develops the condition," she said, though unwilling to say if this was the case with Taylor.
OWN INVESTIGATIONS
Martin says however that he had done his own investigations and is convinced after visiting an obeah man in January and February, that she had been given something to drink by someone: "I did not go to the place to do harm to anyone, let me just make that clear, but I needed to see what this thing was all about. When I went, the person told me directly that someone gave her something to eat or drink at a function. And when we went to the hospital it was already too late for her."
Even Taylor believed those close to her were the ones who threatened her life.
"The persons who do it have a pay day. I am a very strong Christian and Shanique know that," said Blossom Martin, Shanique's mother.
Her voice broke as she recalled some of Shanique's last words, "...before she die, she say 'Mommy, me come see you innah church; nuh dirty up yuh hand and do nothing...Yuh see wha dem do me mommy, yuh see wha dem do me. Me nuh deserve dis mommy, me nuh deserve it."
"I know is not a normal sickness but when we took her to the doctor, the only conclusion they came to was that she had a skin disease, but no skin disease not going to kill you so fast...Is almost like her skin a melt off. I can't describe it. Her face burn up, her breast dem, her neck and foot dem look like cement deh pon dem and her nose did start to bleed and maggot a drop out of her foot dem," said Mrs. Martin, starting to cry again.
HOLDING ON TO DREAMS
"Sorry bout dat," she apologised for her breakdown,"... the doctors were saying that her white blood cell keep breaking up and they don't know what to do about it. Every test keep coming back negative, nothing coming back positive...She wanted to become a gynaecologist, that was one of her dreams. She didn't want to dance forever, but them crush out her life just like that. Now me have nutting left to hold on to except dreams," she said.
Taylor was finally hospitalised at the end of February through April, when she died.
Mrs. Martin says after her daughter died someone started to confess to poisoning her daughter. She said one of Shanique's friends told her."Miss Martin, ah nuh me tief Shanique clothes. Me tell dem fi leave har clothes. 'C' (Taylor) never deserve fi eat di food wha wi gih har."
"Dem go too far and she dead. And when them see what happen nobody could face me. Now people start come forward likkle likkle...You know she would have celebrated her 21st birthday on May 21?" Martin asked.
NO QUEEN UNTIL JULY
Taylor's reign was brief and those who worked with her said she was a queen with a difference. Head of the Dancehall Queen competition, Brian 'Big Head' Martin, says as a result, there will not be another queen until this year's competition on July 29 at Pier One.
"Firstly because the competition is just a few months away. Usually in competitions, the runner-up would take the place, but I feel it is not in my best interest to do that. So out of respect for the 2005 Dancehall Queen, the spot will remain vacant," he said.
He however said the first runner up will be invited back to crown this year's winner. He also said this year's competition is going to be in memory of Taylor.
"In the nine years of the competition, I have never come across a queen like her. She was really easy to get along with. Her personality on stage and off, are totally different and anywhere she went, people liked her because she had good work ethics. Her attitude was great and she was a team player.
Usually dancehall queens are from this particular background and they always have to be competitive against their peers, but Shanique didn't have that kind of approach...I am just happy that she got the opportunity to tour the world and perform," he said.
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