Her home was reduced to ashes, her body was burned so badly that she is bedridden and, to make matters worse, while hospitalised, doctors discovered a tumour in her brain.

Now, Michelle Osbourne, 26, is in urgent need of brain surgery, and doctors have indicated that they cannot perform skin grafting for the burns unless the tumour is removed.

Her sister, Lima Richards, yesterday shared Osbourne's pain and suffering since being hospitalised for almost a year, from November 2011 to date, and pleaded that the relevant authorities intervene to bring some relief.

According to Richards, Osbourne, a mother of a seven-year-old boy, was badly burned after her Marabella home was engulfed in fire last November.

She was rushed to the San Fernando General Hospital and was hospitalised for treatment in the burns unit.

Richards said sometime last May, Osbourne started experiencing constant headaches. She was taken for a computerised tomography (CT) scan and a tumour was discovered in her brain.

Osbourne was then moved from the San Fernando General Hospital to the Port of Spain General Hospital for immediate brain surgery.

Three weeks ago, Osbourne was taken back to the San Fernando General hospital—without undergoing any surgery.

"They rushed her to Port of Spain General saying the surgery was urgent, but then they kept putting it off. First, they say they didn't have any tubes; then when they got the tubes, they say the drill not working; when they get a drill, they say it have no bits," said Richards.

"My sister has been in the hospital almost a year now, and she is going from bad to worse; she has lost a lot of weight, her burns got infected with bacteria; she is in pain and helpless right now," said Richards.

"Her arms and entire feet are badly burnt; she can't walk, she can't do anything. The doctors said they can't do a skin graft because the anaesthesiologist wants her to have the brain surgery first. They said they will try to send her to Mt Hope (Hospital) to get the surgery, but nothing happening."

Richards, who is from Maloney, said she travels from North to South every other day to visit her sister.

"I ask the doctors if they trying to kill her because to me, her condition getting worse," she said.

Osbourne is on a list of approximately 60 patients awaiting brain surgery.

Earlier this month, the Express exclusively reported the death of Tobagonian Rahil Hosein, who was awaiting surgery at Port of Spain General but it never happened due to the absence of a drill used to perform brain operations.

Two weeks ago, an emergency purchase was made to acquire a new drill.

However, since there was no drill in the system for months, there is a backlog of surgeries at Port of Spain General, the only hospital in the country with a functioning drill.

In the meantime, Michelle Osbourne continues to suffer.