FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — In her kitchen with her son Zach, Nicole Bennett gets dinner ready. With one hand she works for several minutes to defrost and take the packaging off three breasts of chicken. She is not moving at her normal speed, with a cane nearby to help her stand.
- Nicole Bennett suffered a stroke in February
- Volusia County chose not to renew her contact
- Denied disability help because she had migraine before the stroke
With slight frustration, she passes the chicken breasts still in the package to Zach, who gets them out in a flash and into a boiling pot.
“When you can’t do the things that you have always done in your life, you feel, I feel trapped,” said Bennett.
February 18 of this year is when things took a turn.
“I started not to feel right. The right side of my face started to get numb, and my mother-in-law said I wasn’t making any sense,” said Bennett.
A stack of medical records on her coffee table explain how Bennett suffered a stroke. She now walks with a cane, struggles with her speech at times and even has lapses in memory.
At the time, Bennet was a third grade teacher at Discovery Elementary School in Volusia County. She said her bosses understood why she couldn’t return to school and encouraged her to get better, but near the end of the school year a letter was mailed to her.
“I got a certified letter saying, we are not renewing your contract,” said Bennet. “And Florida has laws, that they don’t have to tell me why.”
Spectrum News 13 reached out to Volusia County Schools and the Volusia Teachers Union, but neither have responded for comment.
On top of this, Bennett said she’s been denied disability with her provider, citing migraines before the stroke as a pre-existing condition. Now the mother of three and wife is near her rock bottom.
"You expect to be able to go do your job and support your kids. And when you can’t, you kind of feel like you are stuck,” said Bennett.
Right now, the Bennett family is living on just her husband's salary, but Nicole said it isn’t enough.
“I don’t know how we are going to keep our house, I don’t how we are going to support our kids, this is so far from where our life was,” said Bennett.
She’s does admit she not giving up, but a future once so bright is now clouded with dark uncertainty.
Bennett is working with a lawyer to help with the disability claim. In addition, she is working with Flagler Human Services.
Her friends have also started a GoFundMe Page.
