‘I can’t go back there!’ - Goldmine senior begs for help

Life has got worse for Goldmine senior Navlette Pryce since The Gleaner last interviewed her in September.

The 73-year-old who resides in the central Jamaica district bordering Clarendon and St Catherine just can’t catch a break.

At the time, Pryce, who is diabetic and hypertensive, was being treated for a cancerous toe she eventually had to sever a few weeks ago.

After undergoing the procedure at May Pen Hospital, she was given medication and released. However, antibiotics that were crucial to her recovery were not in the package, a misfortune that has had severe implications for her health.

“When I was discharged, they gave my daughter-in-law a package with the medications, but I never know that both antibiotics wasn’t in the package what I am supposed to have, and when I come for a check-up, they pulled the bandage to dress it and they called the doctor immediately,” she said, detailing that her foot had turned black.

AMPUTATION

Part of the foot was amputated but it soon became clear that the entire leg had to go.

Although she is coming to terms with losing her leg, Pryce is distraught at the thought of returning to her house in Goldmine, which is often marooned during floods.

“I can’t go back there! What am I going to do? I have no one to help me, and how will I manage,” she wailed from her hospital bed.

Goldmine’s name is a cruel irony.

Complaining that they feel cut off from civilisation, residents are incensed at the state of their ramshackle roads that make it difficult for the sick to leave to seek medical attention. When it rains heavily, all access is jeopardised.

Pryce, who has been discharged from the hospital, said she still can’t go home because of the rotten roads.

Memories of her sick husband’s demise, on his way to Chapelton in 2012, fill her with dread.

“Is a makeshift stretcher they had to build and carry him to Bellas Gate before we could get a taxi,” she told The Gleaner two months ago.

Almost in tears, Pryce now says her one wish is to live in a more accessible area where help will be more easily available.

“I have a piece of land that my father has given me. I wrote Food For The Poor (FFP) in 2014 and they had promised to come and look at it, but I haven’t heard from them since,” said Pryce.

“Please, please, I am begging! I just can’t survive in Goldmine … How will I take care of myself now that I have lost my leg?” she said, lamenting that she has no job and still has to pay rent.

The septuagenarian said that her son is trying to assist her but has a wife and his own family to care for, plus other challenges.

That is why she needs her own space and is hoping that FFP will be touched by her earnest plea.

“I am praying, hoping that they will think upon my plight and give me some hope. Just thinking about going back to Goldmine is already making me want to cry,” said Pryce.