Teenager who lost his parents in Petrópolis says he will ask for custody of his brother

This Tuesday (01), firefighters entered the fifteenth day of searches in Petrópolis. For Sidney Andrade, part of these searches ended today. The body of her mother, Gisele Reis Bittencourt, 40, was removed from the rubble at Chácara Flora. He’s still waiting for the firefighters to find Brother Wallace.

Sydney is just 17 years old. On the same day that he had the difficult task of recognizing his mother’s body, he also needed to seek help to obtain his emancipation and, thus, obtain custody of his brother, who was only 7 years old.

“I’m going to order the guard. I always took care of him, I always looked at him here and I will continue to take care of him”, said the young man.

Sidney was at school at the time of the rain. When he returned, he found his house on the ground. Since that day, he has been trying to make his 7-year-old brother forget what happened. They lost parents, grandparents and a brother.

“He asks. He talks, but he forgets, sometimes he forgets about the problem”.

Employees from the Petrópolis city hall were at the Deise Eloy Gomes Early Childhood Education Center this afternoon, at Chácara Flora, and talked to the teenager about his brother’s custody. The documentation must be presented to the Guardianship Council in the next few days. Sidney only studied, but now she is organizing herself to work and support her brother.

“I’m going to work, I’m going to run after my brother.”

So far, 231 deaths have been officially confirmed by the city of Petrópolis. The number was released before the time when Gisele’s body was taken to the IML.

According to the Civil Police, 20 bodies still unidentified are still at the city’s Legal Medical Institute.

City continues to receive donations

More than 800 people are still sheltered in the 13 support points of the city hall. In the latest report released, the city asks for donations of bed linen, towels, oil, manioc flour and coffee powder. The collection center is in the old Tec auto is at km62 of the BR-040. Donations can be made from 8 am to 6 pm.