"Nightmarish Situation" for Brain-Damaged Young Woman's Family

Brain-damaged soon after birth, Cristal Marie McBean has spent much of her life dependent on three things: a ventilator to keep her breathing, round-the-clock nursing care and her father.

But as the quadriplegic Lauderhill woman nears her 22nd birthday, both her future and her health have been cast into doubt because of a depleted guardianship account and the possibility that her father, Glenford McBean, could be deported to his native Jamaica.

"This has created a nightmarish situation for this family," said Gary Fox, an attorney representing the guardianship of Cristal McBean. "This is all very scary for all of us who care about this little girl."

Lawyers representing the nonprofit corporation that acts as McBean's guardian have filed a lawsuit accusing financial services giant Northern Trust Co. of negligence, alleging that over 15 years it failed to protect nearly $5 million of her assets.

Northern Trust said it plans to "vigorously defend" its actions, saying it did its duty to protect and preserve the assets of McBean's estate.

Meanwhile, Glenford McBean, a 53-year-old legal permanent resident, has been placed in removal proceedings after he applied for citizenship and immigration officials saw that he had pleaded no contest to a marijuana charge.

If deported, said McBean, his daughter likely would be sent to a nursing home. He said he fears she would die there.

His daughter has little cognitive ability. She does not speak, cannot walk and it is uncertain even to her father what she is able to see, hear and comprehend. Nurses feed her through a tube every six hours, stretch her limbs and keep her airway clear.

However, she is aware of her father's presence, McBean said. When she hears his voice in the next room, for example, she is able to stop her breathing long enough to set off the alarm in her ventilator, he said. "That is her way of calling me," he said.

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For Brain Damaged Lauderhill Woman, a "Nightmarish Situation"