Sir John Golding rehab to get double amputee farmer ‘on feet and moving again’
Published:Monday | December 18, 2023 | 12:09 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
The Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre has responded swiftly to the plight of a double amputee who was anticipating his “worst Christmas” this year due to an inability to have two working prosthetics ahead of the approaching holiday.
Sixty-two-year-old Sylvester Irving, in an article published in yesterday’s Sunday Gleaner, had indicated that his Christmas wish was to get two prosthetic legs so he could move about and be independent.
In the article, however, he pointed to several hurdles he was facing due to the damage to his current prosthesis and the need to have it repaired and another one acquired.
In a statement provided to The Gleaner, the rehab centre indicated that Irving’s present prosthesis has been repaired and replaced with new parts on several occasions and that during his last visit, it was examined and cleaned.
“It was caked in mud and rusted in some areas. It showed signs of tampering. He was cautioned about not modifying the device,” the rehab centre indicated in a reminder that adjustments to a prosthesis should only be done under proper supervision.
“We will reach out to him on Monday,” the rehab centre indicated, noting that it would also reach out to the funding agencies within the relevant government ministries to see how far along his application was for acquiring a new one.
“Regarding the current prosthetic leg, we will have him come in and have it repaired. We are patient-focused, compassionate, and empathetic in our approach. Our purpose is to get our patients on their feet and moving again.”
Irving had stated in The Sunday Gleaner that having to move around with no feet had led to him being both sad and disappointed.
“I am not ashamed to say this is going to be my worst Christmas because I am totally handicapped right now and can only move about by drawing myself around on my buttocks,” he had said, openly weeping.
“I must admit that Christmastime used to be a jolly time for me. It was my favourite season of the year, but right now, as a man without legs, my spirit is really dampened,” the farmer confessed.
Irving, who lives in Mount George in Yallahs, St Thomas, lost his legs as a result of diabetes. He had been going on the farm work programme to the United States since 1994, but in 2019, his right leg became infected and had to be amputated.
“Fortunately for me, because I had some money saved, I was able to purchase a prosthetic leg from Mona Rehabilitation Centre in 2021 for $550,000,” he had shared, referring to the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre by its former name.
“The leg helped me to move about very well so that I was given the opportunity to go back to America on the farm work programme,” Irving had added.
“While working on a farm in Pennsylvania, I got a sore on my big toe, and because it was not getting better, I was sent by the boss to the hospital, where the toe was amputated because it was badly infected.”
He continued, “The situation got worse because the wound was not healing, so that leg was also amputated. I returned home in October 2021 and life has not been an easy one for me.”
He was advised recently by the centre that the health ministry would only be able to pay $250,000 of the $570,000 needed to acquire his second prosthesis. He was further advised to apply for a grant from the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities, which would assist with another $250,000. He would have to find the remaining $70,000. It was while on his way to the disabilities office to acquire his second prosthesis that his sole prosthetic leg broke in two.