Sal­ly-Ann Cuffie, who was in­jured in a Di­vali 2016 in­ci­dent in­volv­ing a scratch bomb, yes­ter­day told the T&T Guardian she can now look for­ward to Christ­mas 2018 with a re­newed vigour.

“I re­al­ly hap­py and re­lieved to hear they ban­ning scratch bombs, I could now look for­ward to Christ­mas and New Year’s with­out that noise and prob­lem. I could jump for joy be­cause this thing ent af­fect me alone,” Cuffie said yes­ter­day.

“The night I get in­jured and was in hos­pi­tal, it had plen­ty oth­er peo­ple with this same sor­ta scratch bomb prob­lems.

“This thing af­fect me men­tal­ly as well as phys­i­cal­ly, oui! Since it hap­pen, every lit­tle thing is fright­en me, it leave me with a fear. I wasn’t go­ing out de house much, I get claus­tro­pho­bic.”

Ad­mit­ting she was still se­vere­ly trau­ma­tised, Cuffie re­called the in­ci­dent in No­vem­ber 2016.

“The night it hap­pen mih daugh­ter didn’t want to go nowhere. We was sup­posed to be in church, I just come off mourn­ing ground. But mih son want­ed to go out. We didn’t see who throw the thing, all we see is some­thing land in de car and it ex­plode. I just feel pain in mih hands and face,” she said.

“I couldn’t do noth­ing, it was so bad peo­ple had to help me wash off, but I pray and pray to God and He an­swer. Half the two thumbs was cut off, but they grow back with a lit­tle nail. The mid­dle fin­ger, which was half cut off, grow back too, but the left-hand in­dex fin­ger nerves still numb. They say the nerves will take time to heal.”

She ad­mit­ted that she still has does not have the full use of her hands

“I still can’t do some things, I can’t wash or han­dle big pot. I can’t work and is a whole set ah dra­ma with the grant. It sup­posed to be $1,150 and they pay­ing $920, I can’t live on that. I was in the hos­pi­tal to­day (yes­ter­day), I have to do a sleep ap­nea test now — but God an­swer mih prayers.”