The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE 

Tribune Chief Reporter 

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

RETIRED Defence Force Captain Whitfield Neely has spent every day rebuilding his home of more than 40 years from the ground up after a fire destroyed the structure in May and hopes to move his family back in early next year.

“God is good,” he told The Tribune yesterday as he reflected on how life has changed for his family since the tragedy.

Mr Neely, a survivor of the HMBS Flamingo attack, was out running errands when he received a call from his son about the May 31st blaze, which destroyed everything he had built and left his family displaced.

Since then, he has worked daily to rebuild what was lost.

“I’ve been in this yard every day since then, even Sundays and Saturdays,” he said. “I go to church seven o’clock Sunday morning. When church is done, I come straight here and I work. And I’ve been doing that every day since my house burned.”

Mr Neely said he initially hoped to move into his three-bedroom, three-bathroom home before Christmas but now hopes to do so early in the new year.

“We were looking at December, but something happened and things just stopped,” he said. “I guess it’s the Christmas effect in The Bahamas and I’m really looking forward to moving into my house at least in about six weeks, so by the middle of February, we should be living in our house.”

He said the rebuilding process had gone smoothly, with only painting, electrical installation, tiling, plumbing, and other interior work left to complete.

He thanked his family and friends for their outpouring of support, which allowed him to get a head start on rebuilding.

Ultimately, Mr Neely said he has had to dip into his savings and make sacrifices to keep the project going.

“We’ve been moving forward with help from the kids,” Mr Neely said. “Everyone is chipping in, and we’re working as a unit to complete the project. We’re not just sitting on our haunches and waiting on someone to give us because that period, I think, has passed.”

The Neely family was initially left displaced after the blaze, with Mr Neely and his wife living in one home while his son and family stayed in another.

However, Captain Neely said that thanks to the generosity of good Samaritans, the family has been reunited and is now living together in a home until their house is rebuilt.