Neighborhood watch 
September 17, 2006

Community rallies round to support elderly couple in their time of need.

By Juan Ortega
Staff Writer
Sun-Sentinel 

LAUDERDALE LAKES -
As he lay in pain for almost a half-hour outside his home, Harry Nessel worried about his well-being, and that of his disabled wife inside.
The 88-year old man had been on his way to fetch a flower for Mae Nessell, 82, when he tripped on a untied shoelace and seriously hurt his left hip.
He knew this would mean medical attention, possible a lengthy hospital stay, and was preoccupied about not having in-state family to immediately help his wife.
A passer-by who hear his cries for help called an ambulance, he said. And his diverse group of neighbors also came to the rescue, uniting to ensure Mae Nessell wasn’t left alone.
They cooked for her and kept her company round-the-clock. One neighbor slept over. 
The neighbors did this for five days until Mae Nessell’s niece, Jeanne Baker, and a friend arrived from New Hampshire.
“She could have been here alone for days, without anybody calling her or going to see if she is well,” Harry Nessell said. “When you stop to think about it, it’s scary.”

The Nessell’s, who have been married 48 years, moved from Baltimore to the Oriole Estates neighborhood in 1968, back when it was mostly white, middle-class neighborhood.
Those who stepped up to help the couple reflect the growing population of people from the Caribbean and other cultures in central Broward County. The Nessell’s neighbors – the Blackwoods, Bowdens and the Louis family – are Caribbean-Canadian, white and Haitian, respectively.
Tracey Blackwood said she met the Nessells five years ago through mutual friends. She seldom got to visit them, because she is busy as a substance abuse nurse and the mother of three teenage boys.
But after hearing the news from her son, Adrian Young, 18, who saw an ambulance while driving by the couple’s home, Blackwood realized Mae Nessell would be left alone and decided to keep her company every night, she said.
Blackwood went to work each day, then visited with her family before heading to the Nessell’s home, cooking dinner and sleeping over.
“There was nothing else to do at the time,” Blackwood said.
Roy Bowden, 75, who has known the Nesells for three decades, made Mae’s breakfast in the mornings.
And Philimina Louis, a Boyd Anderson High student on summer break, kept her company eight hours daily.
“I figure I’d do it for her, because she didn’t have anyone there, and it was hard for her,” said Louis, 15.
Harry Nessel returned home after spending more than two weeks at Florida Medical Center and St. Anthony’s Rehabilitation Hospital, both in Lauderdale Lakes.
He is improving and recently switched from using a walker to a cane.
“I can’t believe they did it, and I’m so glad,” Mae Nessell said.

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