A painful Christmas

Christmas for the past 22 years has been less than merry for Odean Brown, a customer care representative at the Registrar General’s Department (RGD) who has been fighting to keep her leg after a motor vehicle accident in Trelawny in 1999.

This year, however, the season brings a particular sadness as her battle against amputation is seemingly ending in defeat.

It is the best option at this point, doctors have told her after six major surgeries on the right limb that was smashed in three places and which has still not healed. Today, she limps around her office with the help of a cane – a painful bone infection in the leg draining mucus into bandages as she does so. Her colleagues rally around her, their best efforts still falling short.

On most days, Brown wears a smile, but beneath it lies a whirlwind of depression, worry, and debts that have reduced her monthly pay cheque to a lunch ticket: a take-home of $679 after most outstanding bills are paid, she calculates. Some lenders do not get paid, she said.

“I have nothing. And I feel like nothing. I work and all my salary goes back into this,” she explained Wednesday, forcing an obviously costly smile.

“Different doctors keep saying different things and now they are at the point where they want to amputate from below the knee. Honestly, I don’t think I can handle it,” she said, her smile giving way to tears as she hinted at death.

“I feel like I am nothing. I have tried for 22 years to save my leg and, every time different doctors tell me to do different things, I try to do them. My salary is gone, and now to hear that they want to cut it off ... . I am not going to handle it [well],” she cried.

LONG TO BE HAPPY

Brown’s situation since age 25 has drastically affected her adult life and relationships and, at 47, the woman lives with three sisters who care for her.

“Every day, I am sad. I long to be happy,” she said. “I owe a lot of people and institutions. Persons threaten to come to my work every day, and I ask God not to let anybody come here and embarrass me,” she cried.

“I am tired and I don’t want to lose my leg,” she said, noting her body weight and the fear of being more dependent on others.

“I don’t know how to tell them to cut off my leg. How am I going to move about? I am fat. How am I going to come to work? How am I going to survive? It is not like I can hop on one foot, this leg is not strong,” she stated. “I take painkillers every day.”

AMPUTATION CAPITAL

Though mainly because of diabetes and poor healthcare, the Caribbean, led by Jamaica, has been dubbed the amputation capital of the world by researchers at The University of the West Indies, who, in 2019, revealed that there is one amputation per 1,500 diabetic patients locally. These do not include Jamaicans whose limbs have been amputated because of gunshot or motorcycle injuries, and who have had to seek extensive counselling to continue after their traumatic experiences.

It is a hard pill for many to swallow, explained Daniel Brown, associate psychotherapist specialising in trauma, who works closely with the National Council on Drug Abuse. Brown himself had serious psychological challenges accepting his hand which was severely damaged in an accident years ago. For years, he wore only long-sleeved shirts, he said.

“I understand where she is and where she needs to go. The problem is that most people cannot see themselves beyond their physical state. The accident itself was traumatic and now they are stuck in a loop, replaying that accident over and over,” he theorised generally. “It is about how these persons view themselves. Do you view yourself only in a physical or a spiritual way inside?”

“If you cut off your feet and your two hands, are you still you? There are plenty of persons now who don’t have limbs but have adapted and are thriving in life. So, most of the time, it is about the mental state of the person,” said Brown, volunteering Thursday to work with Odean Brown.

It will take much time and effort, but she can overcome the trauma, he said.

“I grow up with it and, after a while, I just put that aside and move on,” said 58-year-old Pearl Powell, who lost her leg at age 13 when a truck ran over it in St James. Since then she has given birth to eight children and still handles her domestic duties, she said. “She (Odean) just needs to seek God and just try to comfort herself. That is the greatest part.”

According to Odean, she was doing delivery for a company where she worked when the driver of the van in which she was travelling failed to complete an overtake on the Braco main road on December 7, a day which forever will mark each Christmas.

The vehicle collided head-on with another van and its front crumpled, crushing her leg within it. In and out of consciousness, she was whisked to hospital where her full ordeal was revealed days later.

Unfortunately, she said, nothing financially favourable came of insurance claims in the courts, partly because the driver of the vehicle she was travelling in was deemed at fault. Additionally, Odean said, efforts to locate her employer overseas were fruitless. The company that she worked for has since closed.

When contacted last week, attorneys close to the case asked not to be named. They explained, however, that the insurance company failed to entertain Odean’s claim, as the policy holder (her employer) had either breached the agreement or was not at fault.

Other sources close to the case further explained that efforts were made to locate the defendants to enforce the court’s judgments but that those failed, despite their efforts.

Odean said it was then suggested to her that she hire a private investigator as the suspicion was that the defendants (her employers) were overseas. That option soon collapsed, however, as she said she did not have the money to do this.

Now, back at “square one”, she lamented, and with fruitless follow-up visits to the attorney years after, she hopes for a miracle.

CHRISTMAS WISH

“My Christmas wish is just to wake up and see my leg all right. My wish is that I don’t have to lose my leg, and at least that I can pay up all of my debts. I owe a lot of persons and institutions because of this and I don’t know how I am going to pay many of them,” she said.

Last Wednesday, colleagues hailed Odean Brown as a vibrant team member who is always smiling.

“She is very quiet and you would never know that something was wrong with her. She always puts out her best,” said Tameka Clough, deputy CEO of the RGD.

Clough said colleagues are planning to launch a GoFundMe campaign in Odean Brown’s name.

Anyone willing to make a donation to Odean can do so at Jamaica National Bank, account number: 10225611.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com