Family and friends scramble to help 64-year-old caregiver who lost everything
By Amy Nicole
In the early hours of February 12, Johnny Barrett woke up to a raging fire tearing through his Patchogue home.
As he frantically raced to get himself and others out after his sister Cathy awoke to the smell of smoke, Johnny said he raced to rescue his disabled friend who was unable to walk safely on her own, but the flames coming out of her room made it impossible to get to her behind the shut door.
“I really tried a couple times, but I couldn’t. It was the scariest moment of my life and at one point I lost Cathy in the thick smoke,” he said.
Now after years of helping other family members, friends, and working to maintain the family home, Johnny has lost everything and become homeless temporarily staying with his nephew until any help comes along.
To add to the already unfortunate circumstances Johnny is now facing, he said when his mother passed there wasn’t any homeowner’s insurance.
“We were trying to get the house transferred to me and my siblings, but because of a very large lien from Medicaid (over $250,000) we were having issues doing so,” Johnny said.
Johnny, who spent years caregiving for his mother until her 2022 passing at 99 years old, lived in the Patchogue home since his parents purchased it in 1982. A former sheetrock worker and disabled from a bicycle accident years ago, Johnny continued with his calling as a caregiver when disabled friend, 70-year-old Sondra Mazursky lost her partner.
Johnny said he took-in longtime friends Sondra and her boyfriend Timmy when they became homeless in 2022 and when Timmy had a massive heart attack and died in 2023, and Sondra with no family, he took over care to help her live with serious health issues related to osteoporosis.
“I cooked her meals, did her laundry and went to all her doctor’s appointments with her. My sister Cathy visited on the weekends and helped Sondra bathe,” he said.
Although firefighters were able to rescue Sondra from the fire, she was severely burned and after two weeks on life-support, Sondra passed away from her injuries on February 25 at Stony Brook University hospital.
Johnny’s sister-in-law Lisa Barrett, has been working diligently since the fire creating a GoFundMe to help raise funds for basic living needs, collecting personal care items and posting daily on social media asking for help from members of the community.
“The goal with the GoFundMe is to help Johnny get into an apartment and some immediate relief,” she said.
Tragically the cause of the fire was determined to have started in Sondra’s room, and for Lisa, she said it was an awful fear come true.
Just days before the fire, Lisa said when visiting the family home, she had seen troubling signs of change in Sondra’s mental capacity. Signs that appeared to point towards a possible onset of dementia and a strong worry specifically about her smoking in the home.
“He (Johnny) was actually taking her to the doctor to talk about the worry of dementia. We think she lit a cigarette and fell asleep, because that’s where the fire started and that’s why they couldn’t get to her,” she said.
While Lisa said some self-care items, blankets and bedding have already been donated to Johnny along with an air mattress for him to sleep on for the time being, he is still presently in need of more clothing, pillows, toiletries, and other day-to-day items that can be found on the Amazon Wish List she created.
Looking at the front of the house Lisa said you would never know the whole inside was completely destroyed, and while the ultimate hope for Johnny is to rebuild that is something in the distance. Right now, the goal is to just help him get back the basic necessities lost with hopes of giving back what he has done for others.
“He is always the person if you need something done, he’ll come do it,” she said.
For Johnny, it is a double-time of grief for the loss of his friend and his home all the while having little means to repair but he remains thankful for everyone who has supported, donated and offered messages of care.
“Everything I own was lost in the fire, but I am grateful I made it out alive” he said.
Here are ways you can help:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/FWRKZNIKO2FQ?ref_=wl_share
The Human Interest Story 