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Ieyasu Tokugawa
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Jermain Defoe's uncle is among St Lucia's hurricane missing
England striker Jermain Defoe is desperate to find his uncle who has been missing since Hurricane Tomas swept through the Caribbean island of St Lucia.
Published: 12:28PM GMT 06 Nov 2010
Jermain Defoe Photo: GETTY
The 28-year-old Tottenham Hotspur player, whose family are from the Caribbean island, told how his family were frantic with worry for his uncle as he launched an appeal to help victims of the hurricane. The country has been devastated by the hurricane, which left behind widespread destruction, flooding and claimed at least 14 lives. Many more people are missing a feared dead in the disaster.
Defoe told the Daily Mirror, who he writes a column for, that his family had not heard from his uncle since the hurricane. He said: "No one has seen my uncle. We are out of our minds with worry." Defoe also begged members of the public to offer their help to the people of St Lucia. On Thursday he delivered more than 1,000 books for children on the Caribbean island to the St Lucia High Commission in London along with charity Kids Taskforce.
He was accompanied with his mother Sandra St Helen and sister Chonte Defoe to launch the appeal for help. Defoe is an ambassador for Kids Taskforce, which promotes child safety, and he chose four schools on in St Lucia that would benefit from the books. Appealing for help for the victims, said: "It's a beautiful place with kind people. Their lives have been turned upside down, kids can't go to school, people are missing. We must help."
The High Commissioner of St Lucia Eldridge Stephens said the charity's help was timely following the impact of the hurricane. In a statement, Mr Eldridge said the St Lucian government appreciated the messages of sympathy and goodwill. He added: "Saint Lucians are noted for their resilience and robust spirit in times of disaster and crises.
"It is also their dominant spirit of community and love for one another that will serve Saint Lucians in good stead as they struggle on their way to recovery and reconstruction of beautiful Saint Lucia." Hurricane Tomas has also caused widespread flooding in Haiti, turning refugee camps set up in the wake of the earthquake into rivers of m&d and killing seven people.
