HOMELESS HERO

Eight months after Winston Thorpe made a life-saving call to the police, notifying them that their colleague had been shot and left for dead in bushes in Portmore, St Catherine, the 66-year-old hero remains homeless and struggling.

Thorpe, a handyman in the farming sector who operates in Cedar Grove in the parish, was on his way to fetch water and credit breakfast at a nearby shop shortly after 6 a.m. on February 15, when he discovered a severely injured man lying in bushes along the road.

Thorpe admitted that he was reluctant to assist, noting that he did not want to invite trouble into his already stressful life.

Indecisive, Thorpe said that he stooped to have a closer look at the man, who he then discovered was breathing based on the movement of his abdomen.

He said it was at that time, that the lawman whispered, “Help mi nuh.”

Thorpe said he began quizzing the man on how he ended up in the bushes in what appeared to be critical condition.

He recalled that the man told him that he was a police officer and instructed him to check his pocket for his identification card, which would confirm his occupation.

“Mi seh, ‘A mi you want to put in trouble?’ Him seh, ‘No, mi just need help’. Mi did always want to help him but mi was afraid of getting mi fingerprint on him,” Thorpe told The Gleaner in an interview on Monday after receiving the Badge of Honour for Gallantry during the Ceremony of Investiture and Presentation of National Honours and Awards at King’s House in St Andrew.

Thorpe said the cop informed him that criminals had shot him and robbed him of his firearm and motorcycle before leaving him for dead.

He relented and searched the policeman’s pocket, removed his identification and went back to the main road to get help.

Thorpe said he tried to get the attention of motorists for several minutes, but no one would stop.

The thoroughfare, he said, was dark and bordered by bushes.

Frustrated, he said that he ran on to the road, forcing a truck driver to make a sudden stop.

He said he apologised for his action and informed the driver and passengers that there was an injured officer who needed assistance.

He said that he asked to place a phone call.

Thorpe said after placing the call, he returned to the injured officer.

“I talk to him to keep him up, so that him don’t knock out. I told him that, ‘I called help for you. Hold on and breathe slowly. Help is on the way’,” he said.

He said that a few minutes later, the man’s colleagues arrived, but could not secure an ambulance.

A call to the Jamaica Fire Brigade reportedly proved fruitful and the agency dispatched an ambulance to transport the injured cop to the hospital.

He survived the shooting.

Thorpe said that he felt “blessed” to have been recognised with the award on Monday and noted that he remains in contact with the lawman, who was reportedly left paralysed by the shooting.

But for Thorpe, who is the father of eight, his joy is short-lived.

He told The Gleaner that he continues to live in bushes in the area.

He said an unfinished house he occupied in Greenwich Town in St Andrew South Western was burglarised. He lost his taxpayer registration number and National Insurance Scheme cards, along with appliances, in that incident

“I am bearing sufferation. I have nothing of my own, not even a good home. I live in the farm bush. I do everything there. I sleep there, I bathe there, I cook there. If I have to bathe, I do it outside where people pass and see me. I’m not comfortable and I’m asking them if they could help me to get a Food For The Poor house, where I can live comfortably,” Thorpe said.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com