Ricky Aikman fighting osteoarthritis - Colleagues start GoFundMe page to help raise money for engineer’s surgery
Published:Wednesday | December 30, 2020 | 12:17 AMStephanie Lyew/Gleaner Writer
Audio systems engineer and designer Ricardo ‘Ricky’ Aikman has always been one who prides himself on standing on his own two feet — from touring with entertainers to providing expertise to several production companies in the arts and entertainment industry over the past three decades. But over the last four years, having struggled with osteoarthritis, it has become more painful for the engineer, who is still determined to do his job, said Charmaine Limonius, who is the general manager of Alternative Music Limited.
“Ricky has worked with our company as an engineer and continues to contribute extensively behind the scenes for others within the industry,” she told The Gleaner.
Limonius added, “For years, we watch professionals like Ricky sitting behind the mixing board or walking across sets, not knowing what they are dealing with. I have probably known him for about 10 years (having been introduced to him by Robert ‘Bobby’ Stewart), and watching how he walks, just moving around, I see that he is in unbearable pain and I want him to be able to walk again without feeling that.”
The two interacted recently, working on the set of the ‘Digicel Unplugged – Christmas Edition’ showcase, she said, where the engineer shared his plight. It has been two years since Aikman did the first surgery to replace his left hip but with stage-four osteoarthritis, his right hip was also affected. However, he did not have enough funds to do the total hip replacement surgery. The goal is to raise US$20,000 and within 24 hours, approximately US$540 had been donated to the campaign.
“So much time has passed. Ideally, it would have been good to have both surgeries done at the same time, as it is putting undue pressure on the one that is fixed. But even now, the lack of funds is exacerbated by the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the entertainment industry. First, we shut down, then the virtual jobs can hardly pay to support personal expenses, which has forced him to struggle in an unbalanced way, so to speak,” she said. “He is now using a walker to assist, but his colleagues, myself included, along with Floz Panseri, a production manager and tour coordinator who is a close friend, decided to create the GoFundMe account to help raise what is needed to cover the expenses.”
JOVIAL DESPITE PAIN
Aikman, though dealing with the pain, sounded very jovial in his interview with The Gleaner. Making light of his previous hip replacement, he said, “I am part-bionic man now.” In his heyday, Aikman did a lot of travelling with the likes of Morgan Heritage, Toots and the Maytals, Alborosie and Buju Banton from the earlier days, acting in the role of not just engineer, but production manager.
He shared, “I came off the road in 2016 when I recognised [that] my hip had started deteriorating, and placed more focus on doing more work locally to save for the first surgery. Before the doctor even entertains the idea of doing the surgery, one must purchase the metal replacement, which costs approximately $480,000; the doctor bill may be up to $1 million; and then you have to pay the anaesthesiologist. It’s really hard, especially for us in the entertainment industry that are not covered under the existing insurance schemes.”
The engineer continues to soldier on, working on sets for virtual shows and as an advocate for building awareness around the need for formal structures to assist people within the industry.
“The thing is, over time there is not much you can do but surgery to provide a fix. With this degenerative disease, it wears away the cartilage between the bones, not directly affecting the bone; but then as it deteriorates, the bones start rubbing against each other and it reminds you every single day with the pain,” Aikman said, adding that the recovery will take about six to eight weeks with intense physiotherapy. After the surgery done in November 2018, he felt strong enough after five weeks with the walker.
“The painkillers don’t work, as the body becomes acclimatised to them. To be honest, I would like to be able to not depend on them or the walker … I can’t wait to fling it in one corner,” he said.