Help Emmanuel's Family with Funeral Expenses

Hello everyone, my name is Shamelle Cabral & I am writing this on behalf of my family

On Thursday, May 23rd, my family & I unfortunately lost my cousin Emmanuel Etienne, due to an unfortunate & sudden heart attack, at the tinder age of 41 years old. Emmanuel was born and raised in a town in Haiti called Cap-Haitien, where he worked & fought for a better life for his two young children ages 3 & 5 , his wife, & his mom. In May of 2023 my mom was able to file for Emmanuel & our cousin Renel, through the Biden Program. By June of 2023, we were fortunate enough to hear that both of my cousins were approved to come to America & live with us. This brought nothing but joy to our family, because my cousins now had the opportunity to find a job & provide a better life for their families back home. This great news also brought a special joy to my moms heart because she was able to bring both of her brothers sons to the states to find a better life. Prior before this tragic event, my mom lost both of her brothers in Haiti. Renel’s father in August of 2018 & Emmanuel’s father on the exact date that would have been my uncles 2nd year death anniversary, May 23rd 2022. Both of my uncles passing really took a hard toll on my mother, but despite the grief & sadness she was going through, she made sure to take care of my uncles children & wives back home, because she knew the hardships that was going on in Haiti back then & now.

After only 10 months of being in the country, on Thursday, May 23rd my beloved cousin Emmanuel passed away from a tragic heart attack. Last week Emmanuel was blessed with the great news that one of our family friends had found him a job in the Bronx. Since Emmanuel has arrived it has been really hard to find him a job. Everyone in the family, including Emmanuel himself have tried to find him something. But each time we looked we couldn’t find him anything. Finally last week he got the news that our long time family friend, had found him a job in construction in the Bronx. Emmanuel was so excited to start. To know my cousin Emmanuel you would know that he loved using his hands. He was so smart when it came to fixing things in houses, because back home he worked as a plumber. Emmanuel was so excited about this job that the night before he stayed up waiting to start getting ready for the job.

On Thursday morning he started getting ready for work at 5 A.M, leaving the house by 5:30 A.M to travel from Canarsie, Brooklyn all the way to the Bronx for work. He was asked to come in early because his boss was going to leave work early that day & he wanted to meet him & train him before he started to work. It was his first day of the job. At 12:39 pm, I was on my way to work & I received a phone call from my cousin Renel. I answered the phone & Renel told me that, he was trying to get in contact with my mother & father but nobody was answering. He was told by Emmanuel’s job that he fell at his job & they told him that they’re taking him to the hospital. I had asked which hospital were they taking him too, but he said he didn’t know. So I told him that I’ll give him a call back, I was going to try to call my mom. Once I got in contact with my mother, she automatically called Emmanuel to find out what was going on.

My mother got in contact with him & he told my mom that he felt like his heart was ripping & he couldn’t breathe. It was told to us that while his co-worker was showing him around the job & the work that he was going to be assigned to do, he suddenly collapsed behind him. When his co-worker, realized that he collapsed, he immediately called 911, at 12:36 P.M. While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, his co-worker tried everything to help him until the ambulance arrived. The ambulance finally arrived at 1:04 PM, & they had no equipment. We were told that they only performed CPR on him & called for EMS to come. It took EMS an additional 32 minutes to come & take Emmanuel. They arrived at 1:36 PM. During that time we were told that they took Emmanuel to Allen Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The funds here will be primarily directed towards funeral expenses and arrangements ensuring that Emmanuel receives a proper and dignified farewell. Your support and your prayers means the world to us and any contribution during this time will be helpful and we will truly be grateful for.

Thank you to anyone that can help my family at this time

With heartfelt gratitude,

Emmanuel's cousin Shamelle Cabral

On behalf of Emmanuel's Family