Declared dead on January 18, 2019, Nancie Hilaire made her return home on March 7, 2022. Zoom Haiti News went to meet this young woman of 25 years and her family in Ranquitte, third section of Cracaraille, in Gaspard, in the North of the country, located at about fifty kilometers from the city of Cap-Haitian.
Although her expression was barely audible, Nancie Hilaire did not lose her emotional side, letting her joy of finding her loving mother burst out in front of our camera.
Nancie Hilaire still manages to easily pronounce the word “yes” and to express her thirst.
She says she remembers the place where she was hidden in Pignon but finds it difficult to orientate precisely the space from where she was. Nancie Hilaire was engaged in housekeeping work according to her brief explanations.
Nancie Hilaire was suffering from malaise and had an abnormal temperature but there was no indication that she was going to leave this world, explained her mother, Joseph Hypponine.
She didn’t even have time to take her daughter to a hospital to be examined by a doctor.
”This is a divine test,” said Nancie’s mother, not inclined to skepticism.
It is a miracle, I still have faith in God,” added Mrs. Joseph Hypponine, who had difficulty believing in the final death of her daughter, believing that she was perhaps hidden somewhere…
That is why she did not organize a traditional reception for the visitors, explaining that she did not hold all the funeral rituals completely, by not distributing coffee for example.
Joseph Hypponin did not share the diabolical or mystical hypothesis evoked by many. The mother was just happy to be reunited with her offspring
Nancie Hilaire had a boyfriend, confirmed her mother, with whom she lost contact, Dieubon, first name, lived in Port-au-Prince.
James Hilaire confirmed that indeed Nancie Hilaire had died without being able to explain the nature of the disease that his sister was enduring. He indicated that he helped the mother prepare the funeral. Clues allowed the thirty-year-old to identify his sister Nancie Hilaire. Unlike the youngest of the seven (7) children, who cannot believe in this miracle.
Nancie Hilaire was buried in the locality of ”Bwadòm”. The Casec of the area can confirm this according to the brother, who confessed to have already made the mourning. After learning of Nancie’s return home, James Hilaire suggested to his mother to inform the authorities. He does not know the reasons for the death of Nancy Hilaire, who he says, did not have a stable home. She was sometimes in Pignon, sometimes in Ranquitte, sometimes in Cap-Haitian.
It seems that the long absence of Nancie Hilaire would have left after-effects. She had difficulty maintaining her body posture. Zoom Haiti News calls for the opening of an investigation and support for the victim.
It is not the first time in Haiti that a person declared officially dead and buried returns some time later to normal life.
The most famous case is that of Clairvius Narcisse, who explained to the BBC that he had been dead, then transformed into a zombie and released after working for several years on plantations. His death was confirmed by an American and a Haitian doctor who worked at the Albert-Schweitzer hospital in Deschapelles, in the Artibonite department, during the 1980s.
This article was made possible with the collaboration of Love Mackendy Paul.